Freetown’s Iconic Cotton Tree, Symbol Of Freedom Is No More
Freetown’s iconic Cotton Tree has fallen. The tree, believed to be over 230 years old, fell due to heavy rains and wind on Wednesday, May 24. To Sierra Leoneans, the tree symbolizes freedom and resilience, believed to have been the first gathering place of formerly enslaved people who left America, Nova Scotia, and Jamaica to start life anew as freed men and women in Sierra Leone.
Mayor Yvonne Aki-Sawyer, who is running for re-election, said the city had lost its iconic symbol.
“A major part of our city’s identity is no more.”
A major policy of the Mayor’s first five years in office was the “Freetown the Treetown” campaign to plant one million trees.
Other landmarks on Independence Avenue and Walpole Street include the High Court, the National Museum, and State House.
The Cotton Tree was used in recent years for political banners, placards, and corporate messages. It was also a home for birds and provided shade to the down and out. The tree was a ceiba pentandra, a fast-growing tree that produces cotton after just five years. Its economical lifespan is 60 years, but it can live for hundreds of years.
Citizens expressed grief and disbelief on social media.
Freetown’s most iconic landmark is gone. The city’s Chief Administrator, Festus Kallay, says the towering Cotton Tree – hundreds of years old – has just been brought down by a heavy storm. It’s a huge vacuum in the city’s skyline. #SierraLeone
— Umaru Fofana (@UmaruFofana) May 24, 2023
#sierraleone‘s historic cotten tree succumbs to heavy downpour. What a day. 🥺 pic.twitter.com/aysbGaFYBN
— Visit Sierra Leone (@VisitSL) May 24, 2023
Sincerely discouraged to know that the iconic mark of our city, the Cotton Tree has fallen in tonight’s storm. 231 years ago, the city, of Freetown was founded, and it is believed by many that the Tree was already there then. #SierraLeone #CottonTree pic.twitter.com/rYiHYc6L6F
— Alhaji Musa Bah (@omegabritishbah) May 24, 2023
The Iconic Freetown Cotton Tree is no more after heavy rains and winds chopped it down. The cotton tree was the symbol of Freetown. It gained importance in 1792 when a group of formerly enslaved African Americans, who had gained their freedom by fighting for the British during… pic.twitter.com/tvzPhVHrdz
— Gleaner Newspaper Sierra Leone 🇸🇱 (@GleanerSierraLe) May 24, 2023
The Freetown Cotton Tree was the only constant in Freetown, even when the city was burned down multiple times by King Jimmy, the French and AFRC/RUF.
— Joseph Kaifala (@JKaifala) May 24, 2023
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