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Corrugated Metal Building and Individual along the Niger River

Image Architecture
A photograph showing a person standing in front of a corrugated metal building surrounded by dense vegetation.
Corrugated metal structure with an individual, Niger River. Photographed by William Henry Crosse, Royal Niger Company, circa 1890: 1910.

A photograph depicting a single-story, elongated rectangular building constructed from corrugated metal sheeting on both the walls and the roof. The structure features ornamental metal cresting along the roof ridge and one visible rectangular window. A single human figure wearing light-colored clothing stands in the mid-ground before the building. The surrounding environment consists of dense vegetation, including shrubs, tall grasses, and a palm specimen. This image is part of the Crosse Collection and relates to the operations of the Royal Niger Company between 1886 and 1895.

Community Notes

Onyeka Nwokike

Jul 27, 2026

Dr. Crosse's photographic work was frequently centered around Asaba and Onitsha (Onicha). Beyond his role as a photographer and Principal Medical Officer, Crosse contributed to scientific research, including the collection of a shrew type specimen in Asaba and the authorship of Notes on the Malarial Fevers Met with on the River Niger, West Africa (1892), as documented in The Eponym Dictionary of Mammals.

Onyeka Nwokike

Jul 27, 2026

The use of corrugated iron for structures was characteristic of the Royal Niger Company's operational hubs. Historical accounts in Letters from Nigeria, 1899-1900 describe such corrugated iron buildings as "the Niger Company's sheds," which were often situated alongside traditional mud huts in cleared, sandy areas.

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