Jaekel House

5 EHINDERO IFEOLUWA - 7 months ago

Jaekel House Railway Museum is formerly an apartment for the first manager of the Railway corporation. It was built in 1898 and still standing strong.

The house features a lovely garden, museums detailing the railway transitions and monuments.

The house has a retro and rustic vibes to which makes the place one of the sought after railway destinations.

5 ZeeLinkUp - 11 months ago

It's stunning to experience this old spot.
Seeing it in a lot of movies and then moving forward to experiencing it in person.

The garden is also readily available for wedding and outdoorsy events and Mr wale at the spot is such an enlightened man.
I hope the Nigerian government is looking for ways to manage this better

5 Ifeoma Aneke - a year ago

Jaekel House is a 2-storey colonial mansion built in 1898 on a large expanse of landscaped land and named after the late Francis Jaekel OBE, a former superintendent of the Nigeria Railway Corporation and located in the Railway Compound in Ebute Metta, Lagos.
It was formally the residence of the General Manager and was later converted to a senior staff rest house.
The building was finally renovated and restored by Prof. John Godwin in collaboration with the Railway Corporation in 2010 and currently converted into a Mini Museum showcasing photographic archives dating from 1940s through to 1970s of personalities, places, historical events in pre- and post-independent Nigeria and houses artefacts (tools, equipment, attires, pictures etc) of the old Railway Corporation.
The Mini Museum is currently run by Legacy1995, the Historical u0026 Environmental Interest Group of Nigeria in conjunction with Nigeria Railway Corporation.

I've known of it's existence for about a year + now.
I'd always looked forward to visiting it and I wasn't disappointed at all!
I finally visited Jaekel House from my base Abuja on 17th August 2021.
If you're fascinated by or love trains, railways, colonial era and vintage stuff, you should certainly visit Jaekel House!

Getting there was pretty easy, though I didn't go by regular public transport.
A Bolt ride from my Surulere location to Jaekel House cost N900.
They're open Tuesdays to Saturdays 10am - 5pm.
The compound has the 2 storey mostly wooden building, an installed rail track, some railway equipment, a lush, flower laden garden, fruit trees, a cottage building at the back, which serves as a kitchen, a picnic area and well cut lawn.
Pictures are only allowed outside in the compound, of the building and the ground floor room where pictures are hung up.
Pictures are not allowed upstairs.
Entry is free but donations are requested and accepted after the tour.
They keep a visitor's register where you enter you personal information, remarks and donation made.
I'll encourage anyone visiting to donate generously as they can afford, as this goes into the upkeep and maintenance of the museum.

This place will not only show you the history of Nigeria Railway, it also packs a healthy dose of retro, vintage vibe with the quaint pretty house and lush flower garden.
It's a great place to bring kids to learn about history of trains and railway in Nigeria, as well as to relax.
They have a picnic/event area that can be rented for picnics and small events.
It's also a perfect place for a photoshoot like, pre wedding shoot, romantic/vintage themed shoots, railway themed shoots, all at a fee.
Some scenes in kunle Afolayan's movie, October 1st were shot in Jaekel House.

The cottage is currently not working, likely due to covid.
Things they should do to improvise the place would be;
•Do more thorough cleaning inside, especially upstairs where items, pictures and equipments are displayed.
•Add some games visitors could play.
•Add some concrete chairs in Jaekel's Secret Garden and in the front part of the house.
•Publicize the existence of the museum, many people do not know about it.

On a scale of 1 - 10, I give it a 9.
It took me straight back to my childhood and reminded me of my first train ride in Nigeria at the age of 4 from Enugu to Sokoto.

Jaekel House is certainly worth a visit.
Go, see...

5 Okpor Josephine - a year ago

Its such a nice place, great for outdoor picnic, wedding etc , the rail history is such a beaut...... Artifact, pictures, journals were all so beautifully arranged and also you get to know so much about how the nigerian railway system was been operated back then and even now. In all it was worth sightseeing.

3 Mrs U - 3 weeks ago

Lovely visit we had on children’s day 2021. I give our visit to Jaekel House, Lagos a 3 star mostly for the mostly well kept outdoor space which is very photoshoot worthy !
More attention can be paid to making sure some of the pieces inside the museum especially the train tracks (which has the potential of being the main attraction) are more well maintained.
The garden is also a potential space that could do with some love. All in all, serene and lovely.
We perched under some tree in the front and had a picnic.
The mgt. let the kids work /ride the handcar for a brief while…that was a highlight!

4 Tobias Dekker - 2 years ago

The same place as the Nigerian railway museum: it’s a nice place with a good atmosphere. It is small though. Good explanation on the board. There is also an upper floor but all the materials are quite outdated. Good to spend 1 hour here. There was no admission fee when I went.

4 Salam Wosu - 6 months ago

Wonderful timeline of Nigerian rail transport from the colonial era told with really captivating images and a rustic environment.