Africans from the Northern part of Gold Coast were captured as slaves and brought to this river (Donko Nsuo) to be washed and inspected before being sent to nearby slave castles (Elmina and Cape Coast) to later be forced onto slave ships and sent to the Americas and other Caribbean Islands to work as slaves.

Cape Coast Castle, through which millions of slaves were shipped to the Caribbean and the Americas, became the seat of British colonial administration until 1877 when government offices moved to Christiansborg Castle in Accra. The Cape Coast Castle Museum is housed in one of the wings of Cape Coast Castle. Cape Coast is a fascinating town to explore, its relative antiquity reflected not only in an endlessly surprising range of architectural styles spanning three centuries, but also in the organic shape of the old town, with roads hugging the curves of low hills. Cape Coast is steeped in history.