City
Accra: a fort with a museum, a lighthouse and a Ga coffin workshop
Forts by Jamestown, a coastal lighthouse and a coffin workshop in Teshie show different layers of Accra’s built and handmade heritage: Ussher Fort and James Fort, the lighthouse beside them and the Kane Kwei workshop.
At a glance
A place worth remembering
Ussher Fort: a Dutch fort partly rebuilt, with a museum
Ghana Museums and Monuments Board (GMMB) records that earthquake damage preceded the Dutch Fort Crèvecœur’s transfer to English control in 1868; after partial rebuilding it became Ussher Fort. The board places it on High Street in James Town and says its buildings now hold a museum and Monuments Division offices. UNESCO says the Ussher Fort Slave Museum and Documentary Centre opened in 2021 after rehabilitation work.[1][3]
James Fort and the Jamestown lighthouse
GMMB says James Fort served as a prison until 2008. UNESCO includes it in the coastal Forts and Castles property and records its transfer to the Ghana Museums and Monuments Board. Ghana News Agency dates the present Jamestown lighthouse to the 1930s and gives its height as 92 feet, with a lantern, gallery and adjoining keeper’s house. A separate account by the Heritage and Cultural Society of Africa Foundation says the earlier light was built in 1871 and describes the present white tower with red bands as 28 m tall.[2][4][5][6]
Teshie: coffins that allude to a trade or status
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco profiles Ga carpenter Seth Kane Kwei (1922–1992), who lived in Teshie, near Accra. The museum links his coffin-making to an airplane-shaped piece for his grandmother and later requests for forms connected to customers’ work or roles. It records the Ga name abebuu adekai (“boxes with proverbs”) and describes joined wooden construction, an enamel finish, hinged lids and upholstered interiors. Kane Kwei Carpentry Workshop says Kwei’s grandson Eric Adjetey Anang manages it. Museum of International Folk Art notes the coffins’ inclusion in the 1989 Paris exhibition Magiciens de la Terre.[7][8][9][10]
Good to know
A few clear answers before you explore.
What does abebuu adekai mean?
A Ga name for figurative coffins; Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco translates it as “boxes with proverbs”.[7][8]
Where are Ussher Fort and James Fort in relation to each other?
GMMB places Ussher Fort on High Street in James Town and gives the route as about 500 m past James Fort. UNESCO lists the forts in the same coastal World Heritage property.[1][2][4]
How old is the Jamestown lighthouse?
The Ghana News Agency dates the current structure to the 1930s and says it replaced a smaller lighthouse from 1871. The Heritage and Cultural Society of Africa Foundation also dates the replacement to the 1930s.[5][6]
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