Bombay Municipal Building With Horse Trams & Bullock Carts, 1890 Photo
A remarkable 1890 photograph captures the imposing Municipal Corporation Building in Bombay (Mumbai), framed by a lively street scene of horse-drawn trams and bullock carts. Today known as the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), this architectural landmark stands as a Grade IIA heritage structure and remains one of the city’s most iconic colonial-era buildings. Just beside it rises the equally magnificent Victoria Terminus (Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus), both masterpieces designed by renowned British architect Frederick William Stevens.
Situated at the junction of Mahapalika Marg (formerly Cruikshank Road) and Dr. Dadabhai Naoroji Road (then Hornby Road), the Municipal Corporation Building was completed in 1893, shortly after the finishing of Victoria Terminus in 1888. The image vividly shows Bombay’s once-thriving horse-drawn tram system, a defining feature of the city’s streets before electrification arrived in 1907. Though trams continued to operate for several decades, they were eventually phased out in the early 1960s, marking the end of an era in Mumbai’s urban transport history. Click image to enlarge.
To see the interiors of this beautiful structure, go to Mumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC or MCGM) Headquarters Building, Mumbai.
Did you know – the Bombay Municipal Corporation is the richest municipal corporation in India.
