the Kpegolo River on the road to Agomé-Yo. They forced their distant relatives, the Tové Ahoundjo, to cede their territory, which extended from the river to Tsihinou (located behind the current neighborhood of Noumetou Kondji). The Tové Ahoundjo eventually found refuge in their present location on the Lomé-Kpalime road. Later, in order to properly control their vast new territory, the Agomé-Kpalimé decided to move to the middle of it, which is now the Domé neighborhood in the town center. In their new location, the Agomé-Kpalimé came into contact with Hausa traders who crossed their territory with caravans from Salaga on their way to what is now Keta in Ghana. They learned commerce from them. The chiefs of Kpalimé are from the Apeto dynasty, who were the first to settle there. However, it is the chief of Agomé-Yo, not Agomé-Kpalimé, who is the paramount chief of the Agomé. Colonial period (1890–1960) Until 1880, Kpalimé was a small inland village surrounded by forest. It had no connections to the coast. It was colonization that led to its emergence as a large, inter-connected town. The colonial history of Kpalimé is unusual in that it is one of the few places in Africa that passed from German (1890–1914) to British (1914–1920) and then to French (1920–1960) administration. Malaria and other tropical diseases took their toll on the early colonizers: none of those buried in the German military cemetery lived beyond the age of 35. In 1890, Jesko von Puttkamer, the German Imperial Commissioner for Togoland, founded the first field station at Misahohè, 9 km from Kpalimé and "five day's march from Lomé". It was a strategic location in the German's "Togo Hinterland Expedition", and was considered the gateway to the north of Togo. The Commissioner had the station named after his former lover, Misa von Esterhazy. Misahohè's small size and remoteness obliged the German government to invest in nearby Kpalimé by establishing offices, administrative services and a minimum of socio-economic infrastructure. Kpalimé quickly stole the limelight from Misahohè, becoming the regional capital. Located at a crossroads, it attracted many traders. By 1913, there were 39 businesses in Kpalimé, with only eight white employees. Originally, the town consisted only of four districts: Domé (the center), Avéwin (near the forest), Dzigbé (higher town) and Anigbé (lower town). Domé is the center of the town. Most of the town's extant colonial buildings are in this area. The