Old Courthouse Street Kolkata, 1880 Photo
This is an old 1880 photo of Old Courthouse Street in Calcutta, now Kolkata. The city was known by several bynames- the City of Joy, City of Palaces, Second City, and so on. Particularly interesting was the moniker Second City implying Calcutta was superior to all other cities in the British Empire except London. Thus giving an idea of the importance this capital city carried in the British era days.
Yet after shifting the capital from Kolkata to Delhi in 1911, the city lost its sheen. Its importance greatly diminished. Nevertheless leaving back many concrete legacies one of them was the St Andrews Church shown in this photograph. It was a Scottish church since the Europeans had many Scottish people amongst them in India. The Scots people were originally from Scotland and considered distinctively different from the regular Britishers.
And it was not surprising they had their own church wherever they were based in larger numbers. Developed in 1781 the Old Courthouse Street was once the wider boulevards of Kolkata. It stretched from Esplanade Row to Lal Bazaar on the eastern side of Dalhousie Square. Notice the long row of horse carts with their drivers patiently waiting for customers.
See post Old Courthouse Street Calcutta – Old Photo 1880. Read more The Old Calcutta Captured.
Did you know- the road was so named because it had a courthouse on its premises it became defunct but the name stuck for quite some time.
From the collection- M F Hussain Painting – Air India Advertising Postcard 1960., The Residency Lucknow British India – Old Print 1850., Bombay University Hall & Rajabai Clock Tower – Old Postcard., Fort At Coylan – Antique Hand Colored Map / Plan 1668
