Jamestown/Usshertown, Accra

Jamestown/Usshertown Districts (Old Accra)
Location	Jamestown Roughly: W: Korle Lagoon E: Kwame Nkrumah Avenue N: Accra Railway Station S: Gulf of Guinea Usshertown Roughly: W: Kwame Nkrumah Avenue N: Kinbu Road E: Kojo Thompson Road S: Gulf of Guinea
Governing body	Accra Metropolitan Assembly

Located directly east of the Korle Lagoon, Jamestown and Usshertown are the oldest districts in the city of Accra, Ghana and emerged as communities around the 17th century British James Fort and Ussher Fort on the Gulf of Guinea coast.^[1] These districts were heavily developed by the end of the 19th century, and following the rapid growth of the city during the 20th century, they became areas of a dense mixture of commercial and residential use.

Today, both Jamestown and Usshertown remain fishing communities inhabited primarily by the Ga. Although in a state of decay following years of neglect by subsequent governments, the districts are popular tourist destinations for those seeking to see the remnants of Accra's colonial past. The original Jamestown Light, built by the British at James Fort in 1871, was replaced in the 1930s by the current Accra Light, which is 28 m (92 ft) tall. The lighthouse, which is 34 metres (112 ft) above sea level, has a visibility of 16 nautical miles (30 km),^[2] it overlooks the harbour and gives the opportunity to see the James fort, the Bukom district and the Ussher fort from a bird's-eye view.^[3]

Since World War II, a succession of plans to enhance the capital city have come with changes in government — some seeing improvements in Jamestown as a necessary part of the overall plan, and some treating such improvements as competing with the efforts to develop the central business district of Accra. Currently, plans are afoot to re-develop the districts of Jamestown and Usshertown, both of which constitute Old Accra or "Ga-Mashie" with the inauguration of the 2015 Old Accra Strategy. The Popular Azonto dance originated from James Town .^[4]

Jamestown lighthouse in Accra's Jamestown

Landmarks/Places of Interest

• James Fort
• Jamestown Lighthouse
• Ussher Fort
• Accra Railway Station
• Accra Central Post Office
• Rawlings Park
• Makola Market #2

References