New Georgia, Liberia facts for kids

Location of New Georgia within the Greater Monrovia District

New Georgia is a town in Montserrado County, Liberia. It was first settled by Africans who had been rescued from slave ships. These ships were either captured or wrecked near the United States. After some years, these people were sent to live in Liberia.

A New Home: The Start of New Georgia

In July 1827, a ship called the Norfolk brought about 130 to 140 Africans to Liberia from the United States. Most of these people, around 120, had been found on a slave ship named Antelope in 1820. This ship was seized off the coast of Florida. For seven years, these individuals had been held in Georgia, waiting for courts to decide their future.

After staying in Monrovia for a short time, the people from the Antelope settled along Stockton Creek. This area was on Bushrod Island, about four miles up the Mesurado River from Monrovia. The new settlement was named New Georgia, after the U.S. state where they had lived for seven years. Many of these people were likely Kongo people, originally from Cabinda.

More Settlers Arrive

In March 1830, 92 African men arrived in Liberia from the United States. They had survived the 1827 shipwreck of the slave ship Guerrero near Key Largo, Florida. These men, mostly Igbos and "Pessas," also settled in New Georgia. Around 150 more people, who had been freed from coastal slave trading posts by Americo-Liberians, also made New Georgia their home.

Life in Early New Georgia

By the 1830s, New Georgia had about 300 people. It was made up of separate communities for the Congos and Igbos, divided by a small stream. The "recaptured" Africans often married people from different groups, and many men married women from local tribes.

The town had a schoolhouse for children and was described as a pleasant place. Homes in New Georgia were surrounded by gardens filled with vegetables and fruits. The town itself was surrounded by fields where people grew crops like maize, rice, cassava, and other vegetables. New Georgia became an important supplier of food for the market in Monrovia. The men also worked by sawing lumber and making shingles. The people of New Georgia did very well and were seen as "the most contented and independent" in the colony. In 1839, New Georgia was listed as one of the settlements in the Commonwealth of Liberia. By 1878, about 500 people lived there.

Modern Developments

Around 2009, a new bridge was being built to connect New Georgia with Barnersville. This bridge replaced an older one built in 1992 by peacekeepers for military use. The old bridge had become very damaged and had been closed to cars for several years before it fell apart in 2009. Also in 2009, a new elementary school, run by the United Methodist Church, was being built in New Georgia.

Communities in New Georgia

New Georgia, also known as Zone Z1300, is divided into eleven communities. Here's a look at how many people lived in each community in 2014: