Go back in time to the Ussher Fort...
Ussher Fort Entrance (1649) by HACSA FoundationHeritage and Cultural Society of Africa Foundation
A UNESCO World Heritage site located in Jamestown
Ussher Fort, originally named Fort Crèvecœur after a Dutch town was built in 1649 by the Dutch West India Company. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site located in Jamestown, Accra. The original structure started out as a trading lodge in 1642 and was subsequently enlarged into a Fort in 1649 during the dark and brutal era of the transatlantic slave trade.
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The fort was used to imprison African captives who were tortured and shipped as human cargo to Dutch colonies in the Americas and the West Indies, including Guyana and Suriname.
Ussher Fort Walkway (1649) by HACSA FoundationHeritage and Cultural Society of Africa Foundation
The fort was occupied by the Dutch from 1642 to 1868. On 24th July 1871, Britain declared the Gold Coast a Crown Colony after a period of military expansionism and purchased the forts and castles belonging to other European powers around that time.
Ussher Fort Chapel Space (2020) by HACSA FoundationHeritage and Cultural Society of Africa Foundation
The fort was renamed Ussher Fort after the British Governor of the Gold Coast, Herbert Taylor John Ussher. The nearby Kinka area concurrently became Ussher Town, named after the Fort. During the British colonial period and for a while after independence, the Fort was used as a state prison.
The fort was opened to tourists in 1994. In 2000, parts of the compound were excavated by archaeologists, revealing remains such as local ceramics and graves that suggest indigenous people also lived there during the historic period.
Seafront View from Ussher Fort (2020) by HACSA FoundationHeritage and Cultural Society of Africa Foundation
Direct access to the sea
Fort Crèvecœur was an important fortification during the historic period of the transatlantic slave trade, however much of the physical evidence has disappeared. Nevertheless, the seafront location and bastions still remain as evidence of its important role in the trade.
Prison Cells Entrance (2020) by HACSA FoundationHeritage and Cultural Society of Africa Foundation
A role in national history
During the colonial and post-colonial eras, Ussher Fort was notoriously used as a state prison with a dedicated block for political prisoners. Inmates included the founders of the first political party created in Ghana, the United Gold Coast Convention. Together with Kwame Nkrumah, they were known as the ‘Big Six’.
Prison Cells (2020) by HACSA FoundationHeritage and Cultural Society of Africa Foundation
The arrest of Ghana's 'Big Six' leaders
The ‘Big Six’ -- leaders of Ghana's United Gold Coast Convention -- were arrested and detained by colonial authorities in 1948, in the aftermath of riots which followed the killing of 3 World War II veterans by police, during a peaceful protest demanding benefits which they had been promised after the war was over.
Kwame Nkrumah, the first Prime Minister of Ghana who later led the country to independence, was detained at the neighboring James Fort, which had been built by the Royal African Company of England in 1673.
Execution Room (2020) by HACSA FoundationHeritage and Cultural Society of Africa Foundation
Painful past of the colonial prison
The fort was a colonial prison under British rule with an execution room which was used to carry out death sentences. The walls are bloodstained and there is a hollow portion in the middle of the room above which persons sentenced to death by hanging, were suspended to die. Ghana has not executed anyone since 1993.
