The area was first settled in 1787 by 400 freed former slaves and Black American Loyalists sent from London. Many of these men had joined the British Army because the British promised to free them if they fought the American colonists. Before that time it was said to be a slave market. These people created the 'Province of Freetown' on land bought from local Temne leaders. After many of these original settlers died from disease, it was burnt by the local people in 1790.