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Construction of Brick Buildings by the Royal Niger Company

Image Architecture
A photograph depicting the construction of brick buildings with workers and tropical vegetation.
Construction of brick buildings, Niger River, circa 1886-1895. Photographer: William Henry Crosse.

A photograph depicting a construction site featuring two single-story rectangular buildings made of exposed brick with corrugated metal roofs. The scene includes approximately nine individuals: some wearing Western-style buttoned shirts and trousers, and others in traditional wrap-style garments with bare upper torsos. Loose bricks are scattered across the unpaved foreground, and the background consists of dense tropical vegetation with palm species and broad-leafed canopy trees. The image is part of the Crosse Collection, documenting the activities of the Royal Niger Company between 1886 and 1895.

Community Notes

Onyeka Nwokike

Oct 11, 2026

William Henry Crosse, the photographer, authored medical texts including Notes on the Malarial Fevers Met with on the River Niger, West Africa (1892) and Hints, Suggestions and Medical Notes for Those Traveling in West Africa (1903). Some images from his collection were featured in Charles Henry Robinson's 1900 publication, Nigeria: Our Latest Protectorate. Following his death in 1903, the snake species Letheobia crossii was named in his honor.

Onyeka Nwokike

Oct 11, 2026

The use of brick for construction was a hallmark of the Royal Niger Company's efforts to establish permanent administrative and medical stations along the Niger River. This architectural style was particularly prominent in Lokoja, which served as the company's military and administrative headquarters. The differing attire seen in the image, ranging from Western clothing to traditional wraps, illustrates the labor and administrative hierarchies of the colonial era.

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