Editing Accra (section)

===British Power Increases===
Britain gradually acquired the interests of all other countries beginning in 1851, when Denmark sold [[Fort Christiansborg|Christiansborg]] (which they had acquired from the Swedes) and their other forts to the British. The [[Netherlands]] was the last to sell out, in 1871. In 1873, after decades of tension between the British and [[Ashanti people|Ashantis]], the British captured [[Kumasi]], destroying portions of the city. The British then captured Accra in 1874, and in 1877, at the end of the second [[Anglo-Asante Wars|Anglo-Asante War]], Accra replaced [[Cape Coast]] as the capital of the British [[Gold Coast (British colony)|Gold Coast]]. This decision was made because Accra had a drier climate relative to Cape Coast. Until this time, the settlement of Accra was confined between Ussher Fort to the east and the [[Korle Lagoon]] to the west.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.africanexecutive.com/modules/magazine/articles.php?article=994 |title=History of Accra |access-date=22 July 2010 |publisher=The African Executive |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707101722/http://www.africanexecutive.com/modules/magazine/articles.php?article=994 |archive-date=7 July 2011}}</ref>

As the newly established Gold Coast's administrative functions were moved to Accra (1877), an influx of British colonial administrators and European settlers grew around the Christiansborg (modern [[Osu, Accra|Osu]], Ministries, Ridge, Labone, and Cantonments) began, and the city began to expand to accommodate the new residents. Victoriaborg was formed in the late 19th century as an exclusively European residential neighbourhood, located to the east of the city limits of the time. The boundaries of Accra were further stretched in 1908, after a bubonic plague epidemic.<ref name=":7">{{Cite book |last=Roberts |first=Jonathan |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv21hrjnx |title=Sharing the Burden of Sickness |date=2021-11-09 |publisher=Indiana University Press |isbn=978-0-253-05791-4 |pages=146|doi=10.2307/j.ctv21hrjnx }}</ref> This expansion entailed the creation of a native-only neighbourhood, intended to accommodate members of the native population as a means of relieving congestion problems in the overcrowded city centre. [[Adabraka]] was thus established to the north of the city.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.macalester.edu/courses/geog261/eskidmore/history.htm |title=History of Accra |access-date=17 February 2011 |archive-date=31 May 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110531013544/http://www.macalester.edu/courses/geog261/eskidmore/history.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:HauptstraßeAccra18851908 300dpi.jpg|thumb|right|A main street of central Accra sometime between 1885 and 1908]]

One of the most influential decisions in the history of the city was that of building the Accra-Kumasi railway in 1908. This was to connect Accra, the country's foremost port at that time, with Ghana's main [[cocoa bean|cocoa]]-producing regions. In 1923, the railway was completed, and by 1924, cocoa was Ghana's largest export.{{citation needed|date=March 2024}}

The colonial era heavily influenced the shape that Accra took during this period. For example, the [[racial segregation|segregation]] of European and African neighbourhoods was mandated by law until 1923, and all new buildings were required to be built out of stone or concrete.{{citation needed|date=March 2024}} Despite these regulations, European settlers in the Gold Coast were very hesitant to invest any large amount of money into the city to maintain its infrastructure or improve public works. This did not change until the governorship of [[Gordon Guggisberg|Sir Frederick Gordon Guggisberg]] during which period the three separate settlements (Osu, La and Jamestown) merged to become modern Accra. Guggisberg's administration laid out the present grid networked neighbourhoods of Tudu, Adabraka and Asylum Down.{{citation needed|date=March 2024}}

Among the achievements of Guggisberg was the building of a bridge across the Korle Lagoon in 1923, which increased settlement at Korle Bu, Korle Gonno and Chokor, to the west of the lagoon. Guggisberg also oversaw the building of a major hospital (Korle-Bu) and secondary school (Achimota).<ref name=":7" /> Such improvements led to an increase in Accra's population due to the [[rural-urban migration|migration of rural dwellers]] into the city, and the immigration of increasing numbers of British businessmen and administrators.{{citation needed|date=March 2024}}