Buchanan (), also previously known as Grand Bassa on some maps, is the third largest city in

Liberia Liberia, officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to Guinea–Liberia border, its north, Ivory Coast to Ivory Coast–Lib ...

, lying on Waterhouse Bay, part of the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

. As of the 2008 census, Buchanan had a population of 34,270. Of this, 16,984 were male and 17,286 female. Named for Thomas Buchanan, cousin of U.S. president

James Buchanan James Buchanan Jr. ( ; April 23, 1791June 1, 1868) was the 15th president of the United States, serving from 1857 to 1861. He also served as the United States Secretary of State, secretary of state from 1845 to 1849 and represented Pennsylvan ...

, and second governor of Liberia, it is also the capital of

Grand Bassa County 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 th ...

and lies southeast of

Monrovia Monrovia () is the administrative capital city, capital and largest city of Liberia. Founded in 1822, it is located on Cape Mesurado on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast and as of the 2022 census had 1,761,032 residents, home to 33.5% of Liber ...

, near the mouth of the Saint John River. The town was a refuge during the

First Liberian Civil War The First Liberian Civil War was the first of Second Liberian Civil War, two civil wars within the West African nation of Liberia which lasted between 1989 and 1997. President Samuel Doe's regime of totalitarianism and widespread Political cor ...

, 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 from the New York and Pennsylvania colonization societies. 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 Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

merchant and Pennsylvania Colonization Society founder who funded their voyage to Liberia. On June 10, 1835, the Indigenous Bassa people destroyed the

Americo-Liberian Americo-Liberian people (also known as Congo people or Congau people),Cooper, Helene, ''The House at Sugar Beach: In Search of a Lost African Childhood'' (United States: Simon and Schuster, 2008), p. 6 are a Liberian ethnic group of African Am ...

colony of Port Cresson, killing 10. A month later, a new colony called Bassa Cove was founded by black Quakers of the Young Men's Colonization Society of Pennsylvania.Britannica.com, "Buchanan"
/ref> The Bassa Cove colony was incorporated into Liberia on April 1, 1839. Throughout much of the 1850s, Buchanan's population failed to grow, as deaths outnumbered births and only through immigration from the United States was the community able to avoid a substantial decline.

Economy

Buchanan is the port for the 155 miles (250 km)

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

that brings iron ore from the mines at Yekepa,

Nimba County Nimba County is a Counties of Liberia, 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 ...

. 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 ArcelorMittal S.A. is a Luxembourg-based multinational steel manufacturing corporation, headquartered in Luxembourg City. It is ranked second on the list of steel producers behind Baowu, and had an annual crude steel production of 58 million ...

Company. Rubber and

palm oil Palm oil is an edible vegetable oil derived from the mesocarp (reddish pulp) of the fruit of oil palms. The oil is used in food manufacturing, in beauty products, and as biofuel. Palm oil accounted for about 36% of global oils produced from o ...

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. The plant was severely damaged during the first Liberian civil war. Stephen Ellis writes that during early 1994,

ECOMOG The Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) was a West African multilateral armed force established by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). ECOMOG was a formal arrangement for separate armies to work ...

"..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 The National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) was a Liberian rebel group that initiated and participated in the First Liberian Civil War from 24 December 1989 – 2 August 1997. The NPFL emerged out of rising ethnic tensions and civil unrest du ...

, Charles Taylor's faction. 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 Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, that processes chips from rubber tree trunks into

biofuel Biofuel is a fuel that is produced over a short time span from Biomass (energy), biomass, rather than by the very slow natural processes involved in the formation of fossil fuels such as oil. Biofuel can be produced from plants or from agricu ...

, has begun operations in the city.

Notable people

Marcus Andreasson Marcus Yates Andreasson (born July 13, 1978) is a Liberian former professional footballer. His preferred position was center-back, but he could also play as a midfielder and striker because of his great height and strength. Andreasson was a fle ...

(born 1978), footballer * Dessaline Harris (1895–1966) jurist * Daniel Edward Howard (1861–1935), 16th President of Liberia *

Joakim Sundström Joakim Sundström is a Swedish supervising sound editor, sound designer and musician. Sundström was born on February 27, 1965, in the city of Gävle in Sweden and brought up in Buchanan, Liberia on the West African Atlantic coast. He collaborat ...

(born 1965), sound designer and musician

References

{{Coord, 05, 52, 51, N, 10, 02, 48, W, region:LR_type:city, display=title 1835 establishments in Liberia Populated places established by Americo-Liberians Grand Bassa County County capitals in Liberia Port cities in Liberia Populated places established in 1835

History

Economy

Notable people

See also

References