Sekondi-Takoradi: History
=== Etymology ===
Sekondi is derived from the word second, after the settlement was chosen as the second location for a shallow water harbour. The name was previously spelled Secondee, and for Fort Sekondi, on the site of the city, the variant Zakonde was also used. There is not a consensus about the derivation of "Takoradi", there are at least two accounts. One accounts says it is an amalgamation of the local name Ntakorase, meaning under the ntakor tree and the Portuguese word for the slave post, "Taccarada", which merged into Takoradi through the versions Tacorrasi and Takoradze as the respective populations had trouble pronouncing the names. Before the arrival of the Portuguese, the city was also referred to as Amanfulkro (town of Amanful), a name that is still in limited use. According to another account, the name developed from the Ahanta expression Takora-adi (under the takore-dua (takore tree)). In some of the other Akan languages, there exist other versions - in Fante - Takora-adzi; in some of the Twi dialects it is Takora-asi. These versions are found as settlement names in other parts of the country - one close to Ataabadzi and one close to Akyem/in the region of the former Akyem and Kade, Ghana etc. The tree in question in both accounts is nowadays extinct.
Sekondi, the older and larger of the two towns, was the site of Fort Orange, Fort Witsen, and Fort Sekondi, all built in the 17th century by the Dutch. During this time, both the British and Dutch traders had such powerful influence in the town that effectively there were two corresponding political divisions: “British Sekondi” and "Dutch Sekondi”. Both European settlements essentially collapsed after the Dutch formally left in 1872.
The town prospered from a railroad built in 1903 to transport mineral and timber resources from the hinterland to the coast. In 1928, Ghana's first deepwater seaport was built in Takoradi.
During World War II, RAF Takoradi was an important staging point for British aircraft destined for Egypt. Spitfire fighter planes were shipped in crates from England to Takoradi, where they were assembled and flown via Nigeria and Sudan to Libya. 26 Squadron SAAF was also based in Takoradi during the conflict, flying anti-submarine and convoy protection patrols over the Atlantic. Some South African airmen are buried in the Takoradi European Public cemetery.
The two cities amalgamated after the war, on 2 December 1946. On 20 November 1969, the city became the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sekondi–Takoradi.