Freetown has an abundance of historically significant landmarks that link the legacy of West Africans with African-Americans, Liberated African slaves, and West Indians. A famous landmark in the center of the east of Freetown is the Cotton Tree, which is a treasured symbol of the city because it represents the christening of Freetown in March 1792. In downtown Freetown is the Connaught Hospital, which was the first hospital in West Africa modeled after Western medical practices. Nearby is "King's Gate", built in stone with a statement inscribed which reads "any slave who passes through this gate is declared a free man", and it was this gate through which Liberated Africans passed through.