Colony and protectorate · 1896–1960
Towns,streetsandbuildings
Where people lived: streets, markets, houses, churches and mosques, and the villages upcountry.
Many were made by colonial officials, missionaries and foreign visitors. Titles and descriptions come from the collections that hold them and can carry the attitudes and language of their time. We show them as historical records, not as endorsements. Dates, eras and categories were assigned automatically from those records and some will be wrong. If you or your family appear in a picture, you hold rights to one, a detail is wrong, or you think a picture should not be here, press “Report this picture” under it: your note reaches our editors with the picture attached, and they can take it down straight away. You can also write to hello@dt-ets.com.
The Lisk-Carew Bros. studio, Freetown 1938
Many of the city's early photographs and postcards were made here.
Public domain · Wikimedia Commons · Source ↗ · Report this picture
Freetown rooftops 1915
Sir Kenneth James Beatty · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons · Source ↗ · Report this picture
Kroo Town Road 1911
William H. Heard · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons · Source ↗ · Report this picture
A building on the waterfront c. 1911
CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons · Source ↗ · Report this picture
Near Rock Street 7 Nov 1942
John Atherton · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons · Source ↗ · Report this picture
A Freetown street in wartime 7 Nov 1942
John Atherton · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons · Source ↗ · Report this picture
"Walls" Refreshment Bar, Charlotte Street c. 1905
From a postcard bought in Freetown in 1905.
John Atherton · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons · Source ↗ · Report this picture
Bumboats off Freetown 1941–42
Traders' boats alongside a convoy ship, drawn by the war artist Anthony Gross.
Anthony Gross · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons · Source ↗ · Report this picture
FORBES(1910) 03 Freetown, the United Bethren Home published 1910
Forbes, Edgar Allen (& Photographer) · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons · Source ↗ · Report this picture
Government House, Freetown, Sierra Leone circa 1910
Cliché C. F. A. O. · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons · Source ↗ · Report this picture
This picture shows nudity. Many old pictures like this were taken by European visitors, colonial officials and missionaries, and we often cannot know whether the people in them agreed.
Bush Huts, Sierra Leone Lisk-Carew postcard, c. 1905–1920s
Original title: SierraLeoneP009
Lisk-Carew Brothers, Freetown, Sierra Leone. Copyright Sierra Leone: photographs: 50 years after publication. See https://www.sierra-leone.org/Laws/2011-08.pdf · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons · Source ↗ · Report this picture
This picture shows nudity. Many old pictures like this were taken by European visitors, colonial officials and missionaries, and we often cannot know whether the people in them agreed.
Kennema, Sierra Leone , now Kenema, Sierra Leone Lisk-Carew postcard, c. 1905–1920s
Original title: SierraLeoneP013
Lisk-Carew Brothers, Freetown, Sierra Leone. Copyright Sierra Leone: photographs: 50 years after publication. See http://www.sierra-leone.org/Laws/2011-08.pdf ( · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons · Source ↗ · Report this picture
HEARD(1911) 03 E.T. Martyn published 1911
Heard, William H. (William Henry), 1850-1937 · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons · Source ↗ · Report this picture
HEARD(1911) 04 H.M. Steady published 1911
Heard, William H. (William Henry), 1850-1937 · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons · Source ↗ · Report this picture
HEARD(1911) 05 J.P. Richards published 1911
Heard, William H. (William Henry), 1850-1937 · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons · Source ↗ · Report this picture
HEARD(1911) 08 I.E. Steady published 1911
Heard, William H. (William Henry), 1850-1937 · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons · Source ↗ · Report this picture
Mano village, Mende country, 1930–31 1930
Original title: Landscape, village
Bolinder, Gustaf Wilhelm · Public domain (CC0) · Museum of Ethnography, Stockholm · Source ↗ · Report this picture
Inside a Mende town, 1930–31 1930
Original title: Village, house
Bolinder, Gustaf Wilhelm · Public domain (CC0) · Museum of Ethnography, Stockholm · Source ↗ · Report this picture
Meeting house (barri), Mende country, 1930–31 1930
Original title: House
Bolinder, Gustaf Wilhelm · Public domain (CC0) · Museum of Ethnography, Stockholm · Source ↗ · Report this picture
House type: long thatched house, Mende country, 1930–31 1930
Original title: House
Bolinder, Gustaf Wilhelm · Public domain (CC0) · Museum of Ethnography, Stockholm · Source ↗ · Report this picture
House type: thatched house, Mende country, 1930–31 1930
Original title: House
Bolinder, Gustaf Wilhelm · Public domain (CC0) · Museum of Ethnography, Stockholm · Source ↗ · Report this picture
House type: round and long houses side by side, Mende country, 1930–31 1930
Original title: House
Bolinder, Gustaf Wilhelm · Public domain (CC0) · Museum of Ethnography, Stockholm · Source ↗ · Report this picture
House type: round house with a painted base, Mende country, 1930–31 1930
Original title: House
Bolinder, Gustaf Wilhelm · Public domain (CC0) · Museum of Ethnography, Stockholm · Source ↗ · Report this picture
House type: round houses with steep thatch, Mende country, 1930–31 1930
Original title: House
Bolinder, Gustaf Wilhelm · Public domain (CC0) · Museum of Ethnography, Stockholm · Source ↗ · Report this picture
House type: houses along a lane, Mende country, 1930–31 1930
Original title: House
Bolinder, Gustaf Wilhelm · Public domain (CC0) · Museum of Ethnography, Stockholm · Source ↗ · Report this picture
House type: square house under a round roof, Mende country, 1930–31 1930
Original title: House
Bolinder, Gustaf Wilhelm · Public domain (CC0) · Museum of Ethnography, Stockholm · Source ↗ · Report this picture
House type: round house, Mende country, 1930–31 1930
Original title: House
Bolinder, Gustaf Wilhelm · Public domain (CC0) · Museum of Ethnography, Stockholm · Source ↗ · Report this picture
A road through the Kissi country, 1930–31 1930
Original title: Road, landscape
Bolinder, Gustaf Wilhelm · Public domain (CC0) · Museum of Ethnography, Stockholm · Source ↗ · Report this picture
A Kissi town in its landscape, 1930–31 1930
Original title: Landscape
Bolinder, Gustaf Wilhelm · Public domain (CC0) · Museum of Ethnography, Stockholm · Source ↗ · Report this picture
Town fence, Kissi country, 1930–31 1930
Original title: Landscape, staket
Bolinder, Gustaf Wilhelm · Public domain (CC0) · Museum of Ethnography, Stockholm · Source ↗ · Report this picture
A round gate in a town fence, Kissi country, 1930–31 1930
Original title: Staket, grind
Bolinder, Gustaf Wilhelm · Public domain (CC0) · Museum of Ethnography, Stockholm · Source ↗ · Report this picture
Inside a Kissi town, 1930–31 1930
Original title: Village, house
Bolinder, Gustaf Wilhelm · Public domain (CC0) · Museum of Ethnography, Stockholm · Source ↗ · Report this picture
Round houses inside a Kissi town, 1930–31 1930
Original title: House, village
Bolinder, Gustaf Wilhelm · Public domain (CC0) · Museum of Ethnography, Stockholm · Source ↗ · Report this picture
Meeting house (barri), Kissi country, 1930–31 1930
Original title: House
Bolinder, Gustaf Wilhelm · Public domain (CC0) · Museum of Ethnography, Stockholm · Source ↗ · Report this picture
Thatched round houses, Kissi country, 1930–31 1930
Original title: House
Bolinder, Gustaf Wilhelm · Public domain (CC0) · Museum of Ethnography, Stockholm · Source ↗ · Report this picture
Building a house: the woven wall frame and roof poles, Kissi country, 1930–31 1930
Original title: House
Bolinder, Gustaf Wilhelm · Public domain (CC0) · Museum of Ethnography, Stockholm · Source ↗ · Report this picture
A boy with an iron bar of Kissi money, 1930–31 1930
Original title: Boy, village, hut
Bolinder, Gustaf Wilhelm · Public domain (CC0) · Museum of Ethnography, Stockholm · Source ↗ · Report this picture
A roofed grave in the middle of a Kissi town, 1930–31 1930
Original title: Village, hut, man
Bolinder, Gustaf Wilhelm · Public domain (CC0) · Museum of Ethnography, Stockholm · Source ↗ · Report this picture
The road into Blama, 1930–31 1930
Original title: Road, village
Bolinder, Gustaf Wilhelm · Public domain (CC0) · Museum of Ethnography, Stockholm · Source ↗ · Report this picture
Native house builders, Freetown (Lisk-Carew postcard) 1930
Original title: Building, house
Lisk-Carew, Alphonso · Public domain (CC0) · Museum of Ethnography, Stockholm · Source ↗ · Report this picture
Susan's Bay, Freetown (Lisk-Carew postcard) 1930
Original title: House, harbour, vy
Lisk-Carew, Alphonso · Public domain (CC0) · Museum of Ethnography, Stockholm · Source ↗ · Report this picture
Panguma, Sierra Leone (Lisk-Carew postcard) 1930
Original title: Berg, village, people
Lisk-Carew, Alphonso · Public domain (CC0) · Museum of Ethnography, Stockholm · Source ↗ · Report this picture
Bo, Sierra Leone c 1944 (3133798557) 2008
Sludge G · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons · Source ↗ · Report this picture
Bo, Sierra Leone c 1944 (3134620528) 2008
Sludge G · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons · Source ↗ · Report this picture
Rubber, Sierra Leone c 1944 (3134619538) 2008
Sludge G · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons · Source ↗ · Report this picture
Bast fibre sample Collected 1930–31
Original title: Materialprov, bast, sample
Public domain (CC0) · Museum of Ethnography, Stockholm · Source ↗ · Report this picture
Matezia]., material [for producing of carpet] Collected 1930–31
Public domain (CC0) · Museum of Ethnography, Stockholm · Source ↗ · Report this picture
Roller Collected 1930–31
Public domain (CC0) · Museum of Ethnography, Stockholm · Source ↗ · Report this picture
Freetown-Central wharf c. 1900
Unknown author Unknown author · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons · Source ↗ · Report this picture
Freetown-Gibraltar wharf c. 1900
Unknown author Unknown author · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons · Source ↗ · Report this picture
Freetown-Kissy Road c. 1900
Unknown author Unknown author · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons · Source ↗ · Report this picture
Freetown-Mamy c. 1900
Unknown author Unknown author · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons · Source ↗ · Report this picture
Freetown-Wilberforce Street c. 1900
Unknown author Unknown author · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons · Source ↗ · Report this picture
Lisk-Carew postcard Acrobats and Magicians c. 1905–1920
Alphonso Lisk-Carew · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons · Source ↗ · Report this picture
Men with cattle, pulling a cart with an incinerator on it. P c. 1911
CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons · Source ↗ · Report this picture
Wooden building on a river; to be used as a public toilet in c. 1911
CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons · Source ↗ · Report this picture
Wooden building on swampland in Bonthe, Sierre Leone. Photog c. 1911
CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons · Source ↗ · Report this picture