Accra · GH

Ussher Fort

Ussher Fort is a 17th-century Dutch stronghold in the James Town district of Accra, now home to the Ussher Fort Slave Museum and Documentary Centre. Built in 1649 as Fort Crèvecœur, it served as a trade post, slave dungeon, and later a prison—where Ghana's independence leader Kwame Nkrumah was once held. Today it stands as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the most direct encounters with the trans-Atlantic slave trade anywhere in West Africa. Inside the thick laterite walls, the museum's exhibits—iron shackles, clay drinking cups, grinding stones, a model slave vessel, and powerful wall paintings—trace the full arc of the slave trade from European arrival through abolition. Reopened in 2021 after a Dutch-funded rehabilitation, the fort offers a sobering, compact visit within walking distance of Accra's bustling CBD.