Timeline of Freetown

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Freetown, Sierra Leone.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

## Prior to 19th century

[edit]

* 1787
* 9 May: Settlers arrive from Portsmouth, England.[1]
* Granville Town, Province of Freedom established by the London-based Committee for the Relief of the Black Poor.
* 1789 - Granville Town burned down.[citation needed]
* 1792 - Freetown established by black American ex-slaves (called the Nova Scotian Settlers) under the auspices of the Sierra Leone Company.[1]
* 1794 - September: Settler Town attacked by French.[1]
* 1800
* September: Rebellion of Nova Scotian Settlers.[2]
* Jamaican Maroon settlers arrive.[1][3]

## 19th century

[edit]

Freetown, 1803 Part of a series on the

History of Sierra Leone
Topics

* Kingdom of Koya
* Granville Town
* Sierra Leone Company
* Freetown
* African Institution
* Sierra Leone Colony and Protectorate
* Chiefdoms of Sierra Leone
* British and Creole interventions
* Hut Tax War
* Independence
* History of Sierra Leone (1961–78) (Sierra Leone (1961–1971))
* Early Independence (1961–64)
* Early Independence (1964–67)
* 1967 coup d'etat
* National Reformation Council
* Sergeants' Coup
* One-Party State
* Civil War
* Operation Khukri
* Operation Palliser

People

* Creoles
* Fulas
* Jamaican Maroons
* Kono
* Kuranko
* Liberated Africans
* Limba
* Loko
* Mende
* Mandingo
* Nova Scotian Settlers
* Susu
* Temne

Sierra Leone portal

* v
* t
* e

* 1805 - Martello Tower built.
* 1808
* Freetown settlement becomes a British crown colony.[4]
* "Slavers court" established.[1]
* 1811 - Population: 1,900.[5]
* 1812 - Wilberforce suburb founded for Liberated Africans."[1]
* 1816 - Krootown established.[6]
* 1822
* Rawdon Street Methodist Church built.[2][7]
* Population: 4,785.[8]
* 1827 - Fourah Bay College established.[9]
* 1828 - St. George's Cathedral, Freetown built.
* 1830s - Foulah Town Mosque built.[citation needed]
* 1845
* Church Mission Society Grammar School founded.[10]
* John Ezzidio becomes mayor.[citation needed]
* 1846 - Cline Town established.[11]
* 1847 - Female Institution (school) founded.[10]
* 1853 - Inhabitants become "British subjects."
* 1865 - Samuel Lewis becomes mayor.
* 1866 - St. Edward's Primary School founded.
* 1867 - Government Wharf built.[1]
* 1872 - Pope Hennessy Day festival begins.[12]
* 1873 - Independent newspaper begins publication.[13]
* 1874 - Wesleyan High School for Boys opens.[14]
* 1875 - West African Reporter newspaper begins publication.[15]
* 1884
* Sierra Leone Weekly News begins publication.[13]
* Leopold Educational Institute opens.[citation needed]
* Fire.[11]
* 1891 - Population: 30,033.[16]
* 1893 - Town attains city status;[1] Freetown City Council established.[17][9]
* 1895 - Governor's residence built.
* 1898 - Bank of British West Africa branch[18] and ice factory[19] established.
* 1899 - Songo Town-Freetown railway begins operating.[19]

## 20th century

[edit]

* 1901 - Population: 34,463.[9]
* 1904
* John Henry Malamah Thomas becomes mayor.
* Albert Academy founded.
* 1905
* Madrasa Islamia active.[20]
* Lisk-Carew photo studio in business.[21]
* 1918 - Population: 34,000 (approximate).[22]
* 1919 - July: Strike and anti-Syrian riot.[23]
* 1922 - St. Edward's Secondary School founded.
* 1923 - Girls' Industrial and Technical Training School established.[24]
* 1925 - Prince of Wales School founded.
* 1926
* January: Railway strike.[17]
* December: City Council dissolved; Municipal Board established.[17]
* 1928 - East End Lions Football Club formed.
* 1930 - Women granted right to vote.[24]
* 1932
* Muslim Congress created.[25]
* Sierra Leone Daily Mail newspaper begins publication.[13]
* 1938
* West African Youth League and League of Coloured Peoples branch headquartered in Freetown.[5][24]
* Freetown Secondary School for Girls established.[26]
* 1948
* Eustace Henry Taylor Cummings becomes mayor.
* Population: 64,576.[1]
* 1953 - Deep Water Quay construction begins.
* 1961 - City becomes capital of independent Sierra Leone.[4]
* 1962 - Siaka Stevens becomes mayor.
* 1963 - Population: 127,917.[27]
* 1964 - Bank of Sierra Leone headquartered in city.
* 1965 - Sierra Leone Port Authority established.[28]
* 1966 - Constance Cummings-John becomes mayor.
* 1971 - City becomes capital of the Republic of Sierra Leone.
* 1974 - Population: 214,443.[29]
* 1977 - Ode-lay Society (social club) formed.[30]
* 1980 - Siaka Stevens Stadium opens.
* 1983 - For Di People newspaper begins publication.
* 1985 - Population: 469,776.[31]

### 1990s

[edit]

See also: Sierra Leone Civil War

* 1990 - Population: 529,000 (urban agglomeration).[32]
* 1995 - Population: 603,000 (urban agglomeration).[32]
* 1996 - Freetown/New Haven Sister Cities established.[33]
* 1997
* 25 March: "Rebels move into Freetown;"[5] prisoners freed from the Pademba Road prison.
* 30 May: Foreigners evacuated.[34]
* 2 June: AFRC conflict.
* 1998
* February: "Ecomog storms Freetown and drives rebels out."[4]
* Kabbah returns to Freetown.[4]
* 1999
* January: City besieged by Armed Forces Revolutionary Council/Revolutionary United Front.[5]
* November: United Nations troops arrive.[5]
* 2000
* 2 May: City Hotel burns down.[35]
* 8 May: Peace demonstration.[26]
* Center for Media, Technology and Education established.[36]
* Population: 688,000 (urban agglomeration).[32]

## 21st century

[edit]

Freetown, 2009

* 2002
* Sierra Leone Civil War ends.
* Special Court for Sierra Leone and Kallon Football Club established.
* 2003 - 14 April: Truth and Reconciliation Commission (Sierra Leone) convenes.[5]
* 2004
* Winstanley Bankole Johnson becomes mayor.
* Population: 772,873.
* 2005 - Njala University College established.[36]
* 2010 - Population: 945,423.[37]
* 2012
* Cholera epidemic.[38]
* Sam Franklyn Gibson becomes mayor.
* 2015 - Population: 1,055,964.[39]

## See also

[edit]

* Freetown history
* Schools in Freetown
* List of mayors of Freetown
* History of Sierra Leone

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Jarrett 1956.
2. ^ a b James W. St. G. Walker (1992), The Black loyalists: the search for a promised land in Nova Scotia and Sierra Leone, 1783-1870, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, ISBN 0802074022
3. ^ John Wesley Z. Kurewa (2010), "Methodism in Africa", in Charles Yrigoyen (ed.), T&T Clark companion to Methodism, London: T&T Clark, ISBN 9780567032935
4. ^ a b c d "Sierra Leone Profile: Timeline". BBC News. 9 July 2011. Retrieved 8 June 2013.
5. ^ a b c d e f Magbaily C. Fyle (2006). "Chronology". Historical Dictionary of Sierra Leone. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-6504-4.
6. ^ "Sierra Leone". Proceedings of the Royal Colonial Institute. Vol. 13\. London. 1882.`{{cite book}}`: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
7. ^ Adrian Hastings (1995), The Church in Africa, 1450-1950, Oxford University Press, ISBN 9780198269212
8. ^ Morse 1823.
9. ^ a b c Britannica 1910.
10. ^ a b Filomena Steady (2006). "Women's Associations and Female Education in Sierra Leone". In Mac Dixon-Fyle and Gibril Cole (ed.). New Perspectives on the Sierra Leone Krio. Peter Lang. pp. 267–286. ISBN 978-0-8204-7937-8.
11. ^ a b Goerg 1998.
12. ^ Goerg 2002.
13. ^ a b c "Freetown (Sierra Leone) Newspapers". WorldCat. US: Online Computer Library Center. Retrieved 8 June 2013.
14. ^ J.J. Crooks (1903). History of the colony of Sierra Leone, Western Africa. Dublin: Browne and Nolan. hdl:2027/yale.39002041472888.
15. ^ Gustav Kashope Deveneaux (1976). "Public Opinion and Colonial Policy in Nineteenth-Century Sierra Leone". International Journal of African Historical Studies. 9.
16. ^ Banton 1956.
17. ^ a b c Wyse 1987.
18. ^ Glyn Davies; Roy Davies (2002). "Comparative Chronology of Money" - via University of Exeter.
19. ^ a b "Sierra Leone: Report for 1899". Annual Colonial Reports. 299. London. 1900.
20. ^ Proudfoot 1959.
21. ^ Erika Nimis (2005). Photographes d'Afrique de l'Ouest: l'expérience yoruba (in French). Éditions Karthala. ISBN 978-2-84586-691-1.
22. ^ Harold Michell (1919), An introduction to the geography of Sierra Leone, London: Waterlow and Sons, OCLC 10455682, OL 14015161M
23. ^ Abdullah 1994.
24. ^ a b c Denzer 1987.
25. ^ Proudfoot 1961.
26. ^ a b Magbaily C. Fyle (2006). Historical Dictionary of Sierra Leone. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-6504-4.
27. ^ "Population of capital cities and cities of 100,000 and more inhabitants". Demographic Yearbook 1965. New York: Statistical Office of the United Nations. 1966.
28. ^ Luke 1985.
29. ^ United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Statistical Office (1976). "Population of capital city and cities of 100,000 and more inhabitants". Demographic Yearbook 1975. New York. pp. 253–279.`{{cite book}}`: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
30. ^ "Guinea Coast, 1900 A.D.–present: Key Events". Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved 30 August 2015.
31. ^ United Nations Department for Economic and Social Information and Policy Analysis, Statistics Division (1997). "Population of capital cities and cities of 100,000 and more inhabitants". 1995 Demographic Yearbook. New York. pp. 262–321. `{{cite book}}`: `|author=` has generic name (help)CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
32. ^ a b c "The State of African Cities 2010: Governance, Inequalities and Urban Land Markets". United Nations Human Settlements Programme. 2010. Archived from the original on 17 June 2013.
33. ^ "The View from / New Haven: Making a Connection With Sierra Leone". New York Times. 25 June 2000.
34. ^ "U.S. Marines Evacuate 900 In Freetown". New York Times. 31 May 1997.
35. ^ "Freetown Journal; The Walls of a Ruin Talk of History and Heartache". New York Times. 26 June 2000.
36. ^ a b Karen Fung, African Studies Association (ed.). "Sierra Leone". Africa South of the Sahara. US. Retrieved 8 June 2013 - via Stanford University. "Annotated directory"
37. ^ "Population of capital cities and cities of 100,000 or more inhabitants". Demographic Yearbook 2011. United Nations Statistics Division. 2012.
38. ^ "Cholera Epidemic Envelops Coastal Slums in West Africa". New York Times. 22 August 2012.
39. ^ "Table 8 - Population of capital cities and cities of 100,000 or more inhabitants", Demographic Yearbook – 2018, United Nations

## Bibliography

[edit]

Published in 19th century

* Jedidiah Morse; Richard C. Morse (1823), "Freetown", A New Universal Gazetteer (4th ed.), New Haven: S. Converse
* Josiah Conder (1830), "Freetown", The Modern Traveller, London: J.Duncan
* "Sierra Leone". Street's Indian and Colonial Mercantile Directory for 1870. London: G.Street. 1870.

Published in 20th century

* "Freetown" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 11 (11th ed.). 1910. p. 88.
* H. R. Jarrett. The Port and Town of Freetown, Geography, Vol. 40, 1955, pp. 108–118.
* Michael Banton (1956). "Adaptation and Integration in the Social System of Temne Immigrants in Freetown". Africa: Journal of the International African Institute. 26 (4): 354–368. doi:10.2307/1156673. JSTOR 1156673. S2CID 145281909.
* H. Reginald Jarrett (1956). "Some Aspects of the Urban Geography of Freetown, Sierra Leone". Geographical Review. 46 (3): 334–354. doi:10.2307/211884. JSTOR 211884.
* Michael Banton. West African City: A Study of Tribal Life in Freetown. London: Oxford University, 1957.
* L. Proudfoot (1959). "Mosque-Building and Tribal Separatism in Freetown East". Africa: Journal of the International African Institute. 29 (4): 405–416. doi:10.2307/1157929. JSTOR 1157929. S2CID 145211721.
* L. Proudfoot (1961). "Towards Muslim Solidarity in Freetown". Africa: Journal of the International African Institute. 31 (2): 147–157. doi:10.2307/1158102. JSTOR 1158102. S2CID 143677786.
* Christopher Fyfe; E. Jones, eds. (1968). Freetown, A Symposium. Freetown.`{{cite book}}`: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
* Milton Harvey (1968). "Implications of migration to Freetown: A study of the relationship between migrants, housing and occupation". Civilisations. 18.
* John Nunley (1982). "Images and Printed Words in Freetown Masquerades". African Arts. 15.
* David Fashole Luke (1985). "Dock Workers of the Port of Freetown: A Case Study of African Working-Class Ambivalence". Canadian Journal of African Studies. 19 (3): 547–567. doi:10.2307/484515. JSTOR 484515.
* LaRay Denzer (1987). "Women in Freetown Politics, 1914-61: A Preliminary Study". Africa: Journal of the International African Institute. 57.
* Akintola J. G. Wyse (1987). "Dissolution of Freetown City Council in 1926: A Negative Example of Political Apprenticeship in Colonial Sierra Leone". Africa: Journal of the International African Institute. 57 (4): 422–438. doi:10.2307/1159892. ISBN 9780719027918. JSTOR 1159892. S2CID 144482758.
* Ibrahim Abdullah (1994). "Rethinking the Freetown Crowd: The Moral Economy of the 1919 Strikes and Riot in Sierra Leone". Canadian Journal of African Studies. 28.
* Noelle Watson, ed. (1996). "Freetown". International Dictionary of Historic Places: Middle East and Africa. UK: Routledge. ISBN 1884964036.
* M.B. Gleave. "Port activities and the spatial structure of cities: the case of Freetown, Sierra Leone." Journal of Transport Geography 5.4 (1997): 257–275.
* Odile Goerg (1998). "From Hill Station (Freetown) to Downtown Conakry (First Ward): Comparing French and British Approaches to Segregation in Colonial Cities at the Beginning of the Twentieth Century". Canadian Journal of African Studies. 32.
* P.E.H. Hair (1998). "Aspects of the Prehistory of Freetown and Creoledom". History in Africa. 25: 111–118. doi:10.2307/3172183. JSTOR 3172183. S2CID 161062468.
* Alusine Jalloh (1998). "The Fula and the Motor Transport Business in Freetown, Sierra Leone". African Economic History. 26.

Published in 21st century

* Okwui Enwezor, ed. (2002). Under Siege: Four African Cities, Freetown, Johannesburg, Kinshasa, Lagos. Ostfildern, Germany: Hatje Cantz. ISBN 978-3-7757-9090-1. "Documenta11" \+ website
* Diane Frost (2002). "Diasporan West African Communities: The Kru in Freetown & Liverpool". Review of African Political Economy. 29.
* Odile Goerg (2002). "Between Everyday Life and Exception: Celebrating Pope Hennessy Day in Freetown, 1872-c.1905". Journal of African Cultural Studies. 15 (1): 119–131. doi:10.1080/13696810220146182. JSTOR 3181409. S2CID 153892939.
* Allen M. Howard (2003). "Contesting Commercial Space in Freetown, 1860-1930: Traders, Merchants, and Officials". Canadian Journal of African Studies. 37.
* Paul Tiyambe Zeleza; Dickson Eyoh, eds. (2003). "Freetown, Sierra Leone". Encyclopedia of Twentieth-Century African History. Routledge. ISBN 0415234794.
* Kwame Anthony Appiah and Henry Louis Gates, ed. (2005). "Freetown". Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 719\. ISBN 978-0-19-517055-9.
* Kevin Shillington, ed. (2005). "Freetown". Encyclopedia of African History. Fitzroy Dearborn. ISBN 978-1-57958-245-6.
* Danny Hoffman (2007). "City as Barracks: Freetown, Monrovia, and the Organization of Violence in Postcolonial African Cities". Cultural Anthropology. 22 (3): 400–428. doi:10.1525/can.2007.22.3.400. JSTOR 4497779.
* Gibril R. Cole (2008). "Religious plurality and economic sustainability: Muslim merchants in the colonial economy of 19th century Freetown". African Economic History. 36.
* Kenneth Lynch et al. "Meeting the urban challenge? Urban agriculture and food security in post-conflict Freetown, Sierra Leone." Applied Geography (2012).
* Roy Maconachie, Tony Binns, and Paul Tengbe. "Urban farming associations, youth and food security in post-war Freetown, Sierra Leone." Cities 29.3 (2012): 192–200.
* Political Economy of the Urban Water-Pricing Regime in Freetown, Sierra Leone, London: Overseas Development Institute, 2012 - via International Relations and Security Network

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to History of Freetown.

* "(Freetown)". Directory of Open Access Journals. UK. (Bibliography of open access articles)
* "(Freetown)" - via Europeana. (Images, etc.)
* "(Freetown)" - via Digital Public Library of America. (Images, etc.)
* "(Freetown)". Internet Library Sub-Saharan Africa. Germany: Frankfurt University Library. 15 January 2019. (Bibliography)
* "(Freetown)". Connecting-Africa. Leiden, Netherlands: African Studies Centre. (Bibliography)
* "(Freetown)". AfricaBib.org. (Bibliography)
* Quintard Taylor, ed. (20 April 2011), "Freetown, Sierra Leone", BlackPast.org

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