The Sierra Leone Public Archives Office was established by an Act of Parliament in 1965 which mandated the Public Archives Office to make provisions for the preservation, arrangement, custody, repair and rehabilitation of all public records which had value for posterity. The records in the Public Repository cover many aspects of Sierra Leone history from the 18^th century to the contemporary period. The repository holds information on the evolution of Sierra Leone from the Province of Freedom to merging of the colony with the Protectorate in 1898. The Public Repository keeps materials on anti-slavery and abolitionist activities in the 19^th century, as well as travelogs and reports by European and African travelers, Decree Books and Intelligence Diaries which provide a wealth of information on the interactions between African rulers and the Europeans, geography natural resources and societies in the hinterland of contemporary Sierra Leone. 

The Public Repository also houses a large collection of official correspondence covering political, diplomatic, administrative, financial, agriculture, forestry, police, judicial welfare, labour matters during the colonial and post – colonial period are stored in the archives. There are also records specifically covering all the districts, the Freetown City Council and Rural Areas covering 1930-1964. A small collection of maps of Sierra Leone and pictures on the Second World War, the Railway, Paramount Chiefs and Civil Servants during the colonial period is also available for use by visitors. The oldest document in the repository collection is the 1788 treaty between King Naimbana and the British ‘purchasing ‘ that portion of land which later developed into the colony of Sierra Leone.