Sekondi, older and larger, was the site of Dutch Fort Orange (1642) and English Fort Sekondi (1682).
It prospered from a railroad built-in 1903 to hinterland mineral and timber resources.
Takoradi was the site of Dutch Fort Witsen (1665) and has an important deepwater seaport, Ghana’s first, built-in 1928.
During World War II, RAF Takoradi was an important staging point for British aircraft destined for Egypt.
Spitfire fighter planes were shipped in crates from England to Takoradi where they were assembled then flown via Nigeria and Sudan to the war in Libya.
26 Squadron SAAF was also based in Takoradi during World War II flying anti-submarine and convoy protection patrols over the Atlantic.
A number of South African airmen are buried in the Takoradi European Public cemetery.
The cities combined in 1946. On 20 November 1969, the city became the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sekondi–Takoradi.
The city is currently named (although not officially) as the Oil City of Ghana due to the massive discovery of oil in the western region and has attracted massive migration from people all around the world.
For example, of the 248,680 people in the Sekondi-Takoradi metro area in 2010, only 92,000, or well under half, were born in the Western Region of Ghana. 60,000 came from the central region of Ghana, centred on Cape Coast and just to the west of Sekondi-Takoradi. 20,000 from the Ashanti region centred on Kumasi, and 20,000 were born in the Greater Accra Region.
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