The White House in Old Town, Mombasa County was built in the late 18th Century, and served as the American consulate in 1915.
History tied to the building originally owned by Esmailjee Jeevanjee include being the first establishment to serve as America’s Consulate in Kenya.
Here is the story as told by WoK.
Background
According to Safari 254, the White House was built towards the end of the 18th century by Jeevanjee, a Bohra Indian.
Between 1893 to 1904, the building was rented out to the Church Missionary Society for unmarried lady missionaries.
By 1909, the missionaries had moved out and an American company dubbed, Arnold Cheyney, which dealt in ivory had occupied the building.
Later, between 1915 to 1918, the building served as the first American Consulate in Kenya.
In 1908, Jeevanje made history after becoming the first person to have a power generator.
This was after Jevanjee bought a power generator from Seyyid Bargash, Sultan of Zanzibar, for the purposes of lighting his building.
According to Kenya Power, Bargash introduced electricity in East Africa when he lit his home with a generator he acquired from Europe in 1875.
He also installed a steam-driven electric generating plant on the Zanzibar Waterfront.
Kenya’s first police station
In an earlier report on WoK, it was established that the first police station in Kenya was built over 100 years ago Old Town.
The police station was adjacent to the Fort Jesus which served as the prison, while the current Mombasa Court of Appeal served as the court.
According to Allawy Abzain, a Mombasa based historian, Old Town was among areas in Mombasa where most people settled.
He explained that the area also served as the headquarters of among other installments the port of Mombasa
Old Town was also home to high ranking officials of the colonial government.
In the course of human settlement in the area, the colonial government built a police station in the area which appeared to be the first one in the country.
This followed the establishment of a court.
The arrival of the British colonists in Kenya in the 1880s marked the introduction of the police service.
The idea of setting up the station started earlier when the colonialists would hire security guards to look after their businesses.
It was then when they thought of establishing a police station in 1898.
The police officers recruited were under the command of British police inspectors. Their task was to protect trade routes, trade centres, stocks and their staff.
The police station was abandoned in 1915 when Central Police Station was constructed.
The building then served as a bar dubbed, Nazareth Bar.
