From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

An etching of Cape Palmas in 1853.

Cape Palmas is a geographic feature on the coast of Africa at the extreme southwest corner of the northern half of the continent, located at latitude 4.375 (4° 22' 34" N) and longitude -7.7169444 (7° 43' 1" W). The Cape itself consists of a small, rocky peninsula connected to the mainland by a sandy isthmus. Immediately to the west of the peninsula is the estuary of the Hoffman River. Approximately 21 km (15 mi) further along the coast to the east, the Cavalla River empties into the sea, marking the border between Liberia and the Côte d'Ivoire.

Approached from the sea,^[1] there are several landmarks at the cape. Offshore from the estuary of the Hoffman lies the small, oblong shape of Russwurm Island (named after the Republic of Maryland's first governor, John Brown Russwurm). This island is connected to the peninsula by a breakwater. There is also a lighthouse warning of the numerous shoals in the surrounding sea area. Clearly visible from offshore is a white building with an enormous golden orb on the roof, this being the masonic lodge hall located in the city of Harper, Liberia.

In 1458 Prince Henry the Navigator of Portugal sent his captain Diogo Gomes (1440-1482) on a voyage of discovery, trade, and slaving that took him and his crew as far south down the coast of West Africa as the mouth of the cape and estuary, which marks the point where the direction of the coastline of West Africa ceases to have any southerly component, but turns definitively to the east, beginning the Gulf of Guinea. Gomes named this geographic feature Cabo das Palmas,^[2] i.e. "Cape of the Palms", which was later semi-Anglicized to Cape Palmas. The river was named Rio das Palmas, later to be called the Hoffman River.

The city of Harper, Liberia (established 1835 by the Maryland Colonization Society) extends to the northeast inland along the estuary of the Hoffman, providing a small harbor; the Hoffman Station settlement is on the right bank. The name Cape Palmas is generalized to indicate the entire surrounding region of Maryland County. It is also frequently applied in the vernacular as being virtually synonymous with the county seat, Harper.

1. ^ Cape Palmas from the Sea.
2. ^ The report Gomes wrote for Prince Henry was written in Latin, and the term used was caput palmarum[1].