What is the significance of the 500 year old cotton tree in Freetown, Sierra Leone?

HISTORICAL ATTRACTIONS. Freetown has an abundance of historically significant landmarks that link the legacy of West Africans with African-Americans. A truly famous landmark in the center of downtown Freetown is the %26quot;Cotton Tree%26quot; which is a treasured symbol of the city. It was originally planted by the resettled American slaves with the founding of Freetown. Also in downtown Freetown is the Con Naught Hospital which was the first hospital modeled after western medical practices in West Africa. Nearby is %26quot;King%26#039;s Gate%26quot; which was erected in stone with a statement inscribed which reads %26quot;any slave who passes through this gate is declared a free man%26quot; hence the name of Freetown was derived. Down by the Naval Wharf are slave steps carved out of stone. It was here that the Portuguese slave traders bought and sold many Africans and from which their last footsteps on African soil were made.





High up on the hills overlooking the city of Freetown is the restored Fourahbay College campus where the current Prime Minister of England Tony Blair spent his early childhood and also went to primary school. Because of the elevation from sea level, it was determined to be a strategic place to locate the campus due to the cooler climate and location of a natural spring. Another little known history fact is that during the darkest moments of World War II when England was under siege by Germany, the Queen of England was secretly hidden for %26quot;safe keeping%26quot; in Cort Right House on the campus of Fourahbay College. It was believed that the Germans would never think of finding her in Africa!








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What is the significance of the 500 year old cotton tree in Freetown, Sierra Leone?
As its name would imply, Freetown was founded in the late 1700’s by freed slaves returning to Africa after the US War of Independence, many coming via England and Canada. The cotton tree was already tall when the freed slaves arrived and used the majestic tree as a meeting place to give thanks for their restored freedom. Today it’s surrounded by the city buildings of Freetown, but the tree itself still has an aura about it, as a very special place. Throughout the city and environs, wooden raised houses remain (most were destroyed in the war, but some survived like the one in photo right), built by the slaves returning to Freetown from the American South, including Creoles, who influence the flavor of the city to this day. Sierra Leone was a British Crown Colony until 1961, when it gained independence.





The horrible war began around 1991, with the original aim, apparently, to overthrow some corrupt government officials. But soon it became obvious that the looting and pillaging of the riches (diamonds, gold, etc) of Sierra Leone was big business, and mercenaries from outside the country (including neighboring Liberia) took over and continued the war, and no one really knew what it was all about anymore. Bala had rescued a chimp he named Bruno in 1987 and soon discovered so many chimps tied up in horrible conditions around Freetown that he and others established the Tacugama sanctuary, with land donated by the government, just outside the city of Freetown in 1995. Eventually, with donations from a variety of conservation agencies (photo left), Bala and his staff were able to build large forest habitats for the chimpanzees. During the height of the war, most foreign nationals had to be evacuated, as rebels entered Freetown in an operation called “no living thing!”



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