. Originally a
Lebou fishing village called Tenguedj (), Rufisque became important in the 16th century as the principal port of the kingdom of
Cayor, being frequented by Portuguese (who named it
Rio Fresco, meaning "Freshwater River", hence the name of the modern city), Dutch, French and English traders. A Euro-African
Creole, or
Métis, community of merchants grew up there, in close contact with similar communities in
Saint Louis,
Gorée and other places along the Petite Côte (
Saly-Portudal,
Joal) south to the
Gambia River. By the 1650s, the
Dutch West India Company had consolidated control over the coastal trade and built a fortified factory at Rufisque. In 1840 a couple of Saint Louis merchants built warehouses on the waterfront to stock
peanuts. Gorée merchants followed suit. There followed a period of commercial expansion as peanut production in Cayor boomed. In 1859 a fort was built by the French and Rufisque was annexed to the
Colony of Senegal. The "Escale" commercial and administrative neighborhood along the waterfront was laid out in 1862—the African inhabitants being pushed out in the process. Rufisque became a "commune" in 1880 and its port was connected to the Dakar-Saint Louis railroad in 1885. In 1909
Galandou Diouf (died 1941) was elected to represent Rufisque in the General Council of the colony in Saint Louis, being the first African elected to that position. In July 2025, France returned the Rufisque military base to Senegal.
Decline of port Early in the 20th century the growth of neighboring Dakar, with its superior port facilities, signaled the decline of Rufisque. No longer an active port, Rufisque has experienced steep industrial decline. Relatively neglected compared to rest of Senegal's
four historic communes, it has no tourism sector and a chronic lack of investment in public infrastructure. == Industry ==