Jamestown is the historic heart of British colonial Accra — the old quarter of the Ga people on the western edge of the city's coastline, clustered around James Fort and the harbour that once made it one of the busiest trading points on the Gold Coast. **The Ga foundation.** Jamestown (Ga: *Mantse*) is one of the two original Ga settlements that became Accra, alongside Usshertown (Kinka) to its east. The Ga people settled this coastal strip from around the 16th century, and Jamestown grew as a fishing and trading community under the Ga *Mantse* stool — a chieftaincy that still exists today, with the Jamestown Mantse a respected traditional ruler in the city. The name "Jamestown" comes from the British, who named it after James Fort. **James Fort.** James Fort was built by the British around 1673, on the site of an earlier trading post, and named for James, Duke of York (later King James II). It was a compact triangular fortification with a few cannon, used for the gold, ivory and — tragically — enslaved-African trade that flowed through this coast. It sits on a bluff overlooking the sea, just west of the old harbour. Along with Ussher Fort (built by the Dutch, later taken by the British) and Christiansborg Castle at Osu, it forms the chain of coastal forts that earned Ghana's coastline its UNESCO World Heritage listing. **The lighthouse and the harbour.** The Jamestown Lighthouse, a red-and-white striped tower, stands beside the fort and is one of Accra's most photographed landmarks. Below it, the old Jamestown harbour and fishing beach remain a working canoe-fishing ground — you'll still see Ga fishermen hauling nets and mending canoes there. **Culture and the Homowo connection.** Jamestown is deeply tied to Ga tradition. It is one of the centres of the **Homowo** festival — the Ga harvest festival that commemorates the triumph over famine ("hooting at hunger") — celebrated with the sprinkling of *kpokpoi* (fermented corn meal) and traditional drumming. The area is also famous for its **boxing gyms** (the legendary Bukom district, just inland, has produced many of Ghana's world champions) and for the **Chale Wote Street Art Festival**, held every August, which has turned Jamestown's lanes into a vibrant open-air gallery of murals, performance and fashion. **Visiting today.** The fort and lighthouse area is walkable from central Accra, and the district rewards a slow wander: colonial-era warehouses, Ga family houses, the fishing beach, and the lively street life. Restoration of James Fort has been discussed for years as part of heritage-tourism plans, but the site remains a monument rather than a fully developed museum. *Akan proverb fits here: "Se wo were fi na wosankofa a yenkyi" — it is not wrong to go back for that which you have forgotten. Jamestown is Accra going back to remember itself.* If you want, I can go deeper on the Ga Mantse stool, the Homowo rites, or the Chale Wote festival dates.