Princes Town or Pokesu is located 5 km east of Fort St. Antonio on Manfro Hill in the Ahanta West Municipality of the Western Region of Ghana.
It lies between Axim to the west and Sekondi-Takoradi to the east. On 1 January 1681, a Brandenburger expedition of two ships commanded by Otto Friedrich von der Groeben arrived in the Gold Coast and began to build a strong fort between Axim and the Cape of Three Points.
The fort was completed in 1683 and was renamed Fort Fredericksburg (German: Gross-Friedrichsburg) in honour of Prince Frederick William I, Elector of Brandenburg. Because the fort was named after a Prince, it has been referred to as Princes Town. The fort was to be the headquarters of the Brandenburgers in Africa
In 1708, an Akan merchant, John Canoe, learned that the Germans were going to sell the fort to the Dutch. In protest, he began a resistance that managed to stave off fleets of battleships for almost 20 years.
The fort was eventually captured in 1725 by the Dutch and renamed “Hollandia”. Because John Canoe was successful in retaining control of the fort, inhabitants looked upon him as a hero. In 1872, the Dutch ceded the fort to Britain and in 1957, the fort became part of the newly independent country of Ghana.
“Junkanoo” festivals such as Mardi Gras are held annually in the coastal outlines of North Carolina, Jamaica and the Bahamas.
Fort Fredericksburg was built of stone transported by sea between 1681 and 1683 from Prussia and is one of two German forts built in Ghana, the other being Fort Dorothea. It is estimated that some 300,000 Africans were transported through this fort.
The remains of John Canoe are a mystery. Some[who?] have said he was captured after having lost the battle of the fort while others have said his remains are in the Tafo Cemetery in Kumasi.
