Bird’s Eye View of George Town Madras, 1900 Postcard
An old 1900 photo postcard with a bird’s eye view of George Town in Madras, now Chennai. This bird’s eye view gives a rare glimpse of George Town in 1900. This is the place where Madras city first spread out from the folds of the nearby Fort St George. In the 1640s, weavers and dyers from Andhra Pradesh settled here to manufacture cloth for the East India Company’s textile trade.
The British referred to the settlement as “Black Town”. While its inhabitants called it Chennapatnam from where Chennai got its name. Black Town was renamed George Town. In honor of King George V sometime before he was crowned King-Emperor in 1911. Most of the town’s commercial activity was concentrated within this area.
It still remains a busy place, with commercial premises in the south and residential quarters in the north. The lighthouse is located on the central dome of the Madras High Court building. The High Court is ringed by the Esplanade Road, North Beach Road, Fort Road, etc. The Harbour, General Post Office, and Parry’s Corner are all in its vicinity.
Did you know – in the British era there were Armenians and Jews who were doing business in George Town.
From the collection – 11 Picture Postcards On Raja Ravi Varma Oil Paintings., Charlie Chaplin Signed Photo And Gandhi – 2 Old Photos., Stone Elephant Of Elephanta Island Bombay, 1850., The British Fort In Bombay – Antique Plan 1755.
