WikiMili
Buchanan Gbezohn (Bassa) | |
|---|---|
 | |
Buchanan Location in Liberia | |
| Coordinates: 05°52′51″N10°02′48″W / 5.88083°N 10.04667°W | |
| Country |  Liberia |
| County | Grand Bassa County |
| District | Buchanan District |
| Elevation | 253ft (77m) |
| Population (2008 census) | |
| •Total | 34,270 |
| Climate | Am |
Buchanan (Bassa : Gbezohn), also previously known as Grand Bassa on some maps, is the third largest city in Liberia, lying on Waterhouse Bay, part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2008 census, Buchanan had a population of 34,270. Of this, 16,984 were male and 17,286 female. [1]
Contents
- History
- Economy
- Notable residents
- See also
- References
Named for Thomas Buchanan, cousin of U.S. president James Buchanan, and second governor of Liberia, it is also the capital of Grand Bassa County and lies 70 miles (110km) southeast of Monrovia, near the mouth of the Saint John River. The town was popular with refugees during the Liberian Civil War as it largely escaped the fighting. Fishing is an important industry in the town. The town also has isolated beaches and lagoons.
History
In December 1832, the Port Cresson colony was founded in what is now Buchanan, by black Quakers of the New York and Pennsylvania Colonization Societies. [2] It was established as a settlement for black emigrants from the United States. The emigrants named the settlement in honor of Elliott Cresson, a Philadelphia merchant and Pennsylvania Colonization Society founder who funded their voyage to Liberia. [3]
In June 1835, Bassa tribal members destroyed the Americo-Liberian colony of Port Cresson.
A month later, a new colony called Bassa Cove was founded by black Quakers of the Young Men's Colonization Society of Pennsylvania. [4] The Bassa Cove colony was incorporated into Liberia on April 1, 1839.
Throughout much of the 1850s, Buchanan's population failed to grow: deaths outnumbered births, and only through immigration from the United States was the community able to avoid a substantial decline. [5]
Economy
Buchanan is the port for the 155 miles (250 km) railway that brings iron ore from the mines at Yekepa, Nimba County. Originally built by the now defunct Liberian-American-Swedish Minerals Company (LAMCO), the rail line has now (as of 2012) been revitalized by the Arcelor Mittal Company. Rubber and palm oil once were also shipped out of the Port of Buchanan. Africa's first iron-ore washing and pelletizing plant was opened in Buchanan in 1968. [4] This plant was severely damaged during the first Liberian civil war (1989-1996). Stephen Ellis writes that during early 1994, ECOMOG '..Nigerian troops dismantled, and exported as second-hand plant or as scrap metal, industrial equipment worth some $50 million' which had remained intact when the port had earlier been occupied by the National Patriotic Front of Liberia, Charles Taylor's faction. [6] It is reported that the plant was later sold off as scrap metal to a Chinese buyer in 2010.
Buchanan Renewable Energies, a firm based in Toronto, Canada, that processes chips from rubber tree trunks into biofuel, has begun operations in the city. [7]
According to the managing-director of Liberia's National Port Authority, Togba Ngangana, Chinese investors have signed a memorandum of understanding to build a manufacturing zone outside the southern port of Buchanan which would produce 50,000 jobs.[ citation needed ] This is in addition to an undisclosed amount of low-interest loans, debt relief and other incentives.[ citation needed ]
Notable residents
- Marcus Andreasson, Retired professional football player, was born in Buchanan
- Joseph James Cheeseman, the 12th President of Liberia, was born in Edina, Grand Bassa County, north of Buchanan
- Dessaline Harris, Justice of the Supreme Court, 1954-1966
- Daniel Edward Howard, President of Liberia, 1912-1920
- Joakim Sundström, Swedish sound editor, sound designer and musician, was brought up in Buchanan
See also
- Doris Williams Stadium
- Railway stations in Liberia
Related Research Articles
Liberia is a country in West Africa founded by free people of color from the United States. The emigration of African Americans, both freeborn and recently emancipated, was funded and organized by the American Colonization Society (ACS). The mortality rate of these settlers was the highest among settlements reported with modern recordkeeping. Of the 4,571 emigrants who arrived in Liberia between 1820 and 1843, only 1,819 survived (39.8%).
The flag of Liberia or the Liberian flag, sometimes called the Lone Star, bears a close resemblance to the flag of the United States, representing Liberia's founding by former black slaves from the United States and the Caribbean. They are both part of the stars and stripes flag family.
Joseph Jenkins Roberts was an Americo-Liberian merchant who emigrated to Liberia in 1829, where he became a politician. Elected as the first (1848–1856) and seventh (1872–1876) president of Liberia after independence, he was the first man of African descent to govern the country, serving previously as governor from 1841 to 1848. He later returned to office following the 1871 Liberian coup d'état. Born free in Norfolk, Virginia, Roberts emigrated as a young man with his mother, siblings, wife, and child to the young West African colony. He opened a trading firm in Monrovia and later engaged in politics.
Nimba County is a county in northeastern Liberia that shares borders with the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire in the East and the Republic of Guinea in the Northwest. Its capital city is Sanniquellie and its most populous city is Ganta. With the county's area measuring 11,551 square kilometres (4,460sqmi), Nimba is the largest of Liberia's 15 counties. The county has six statutory districts. As of the 2022 Census, it had a population of 621,841, making it the second most-populous county in Liberia.
Grand Bassa is a county in the west-central portion of the West African nation of Liberia. One of 15 counties that comprise the first-level of administrative division in the nation, it has eight districts. Buchanan serves as the capital with the area of the county measuring 7,936 square kilometres (3,064sqmi). As of the 2008 Census, it had a population of 224,839, making it the fifth most populous county in Liberia.
The Republic of Maryland was a country in West Africa that existed from 1834 to 1857, when it was merged into what is now Liberia. The area was first settled in 1834 by freed African-American slaves and freeborn African Americans primarily from the U.S. state of Maryland, under the auspices of the Maryland State Colonization Society.
Stephen Allen Benson was a Liberian politician who served as the second president of Liberia from 1856 to 1864. Prior to that, he served as the third vice president of Liberia from 1854 to 1856 under President Joseph Jenkins Roberts. Born in the United States, Benson was the first president to have lived in Liberia since childhood, having arrived with his family in 1822.
Chief magistrate is a public official, executive or judicial, whose office is the highest in its class. Historically, the two different meanings of magistrate have often overlapped and refer to, as the case may be, to a major political and administrative officer or a judge and barrister.
James Skivring Smith was a Liberian politician who served as the sixth president of Liberia from 1871 to 1872. Prior to this, he served as the eighth vice president of Liberia from 1870 to 1871 under President Edward James Roye and as Secretary of State from 1856 to 1860 in the cabinet of President Stephen Allen Benson. He was a member of the True Whig Party.
ArcelorMittal S.A. is a Luxembourg-based multinational steel manufacturing corporation headquartered in Luxembourg City. It was formed in 2006 from the takeover and merger of Arcelor by Indian-owned Mittal Steel. ArcelorMittal is the second largest steel producer in the world, with an annual crude steel production of 88 million metric tonnes as of 2022. It is ranked 197th in the 2022 Fortune Global 500 ranking of the world's largest corporations. It directly and indirectly employs around 200,000 people and its market capital is $25 billion. The total value of company assets is estimated to be around $100 billion.
Québec Cartier Mining Company was one of the leading producers of iron ore products in North America, now part of ArcelorMittal.
Iron ore production in Africa is dominated by South Africa, Mauritania and Algeria. Many countries possess iron ore deposits that are as yet untapped/unmined. Countries and companies currently involved in production are listed here; measurements are in tonnes per annum(year).
Thomas Buchanan was an American politician and diplomat who served as the first official governor of Liberia for the American Colonization Society. He was a relative of James Buchanan, who later became the 15th president of the United States.
Elijah Johnson was an African American who was one of the first colonial agents of the American Colonization Society in what later became Liberia. He was probably born in New Jersey and received some limited schooling in New Jersey and New York. He served as a soldier in the War of 1812 and studied for the Methodist ministry. In 1835 he led a company of 120 armed volunteers from Monrovia on a punitive expedition to engage King Joe as a result of the Port Cresson massacre. His son Hilary R. W. Johnson was elected in 1884 as President of Liberia, the first to have been born in the country.
Edina is a city in District 1 of Grand Bassa County, Liberia. Located on the central portion of the Atlantic Coast of Liberia on the north shore of the mouth of the St. John River, it is about 3.5 miles (5.6km) north of Grand Bassa's capitol of Buchanan. Settled in 1832, Samuel A.L. Johnson has been the city's mayor since 2018. The community is named after Edinburgh, Scotland, which provided monetary support for the foundation of the settlement.
Crozierville is a town in Montserrado County, Liberia, along the Saint Paul River. Crozierville is notable for being one of the few Americo-Liberian settlements founded by immigrants from the Caribbean, instead of the United States.
Elliott Cresson was an American philanthropist who gave money to a number of causes after a brief career in the mercantile business. He established the Elliott Cresson Medal of the Franklin Institute in 1848, and helped found and manage the Philadelphia School of Design for Women, today's Moore College of Art and Design. Cresson was a member of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) and a strong supporter of the Philadelphia branch of the American Colonization Society, a group fighting slavery that relocated former slaves and free African Americans to colonies in Liberia. Cresson was called "the most belligerent Friend the Society ever had."
John Day was a Liberian politician and jurist who served as the 2nd Chief Justice of Liberia from 1854 until his death in 1859.
The history of rail transport in Liberia began shortly after World War II, when the Freeport of Monrovia was completed, with limited rail access. It had been developed by American military forces.
The Port Cresson massacre was a lopsided battle that occurred on June 10, 1835, in the territory of modern-day Liberia between former American slaves and descendants of American slaves on the one hand and Bassa forces on the other. After the massacre American forces retaliated and routed the Bassa, compelling them to terms for peace.
References
- ↑ "2008 National Population and Housing Census: Preliminary Results" (PDF). Liberia Institute of Statistics and Geo-Information Services. Government of the Republic of Liberia. June 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-02-13. Retrieved 2008-11-14.
- ↑ Liberia
- ↑ Liberia, Or Mr. Peyton's Experiments, 1853 [ permanent dead link ]
- 1 2 Britannica.com, "Buchanan"
- ↑ Clegg, Claude A., III. The Price of Liberty: African Americans and the Making of Liberia. Chapel Hill: U of North Carolina P, 2004, 207.
- ↑ Stephen Ellis, 'The Mask of Anarchy,' C. Hurst and Co., 1999, 173.
- ↑ "NewLiberian.com, "President Sirleaf Visits Arcelor Mittal and Buchanan Renewable Energies; January 26, 2008". Archived from the original on July 14, 2011. Retrieved October 28, 2008.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Geographic | |
| Other | |
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
