George Town is a neighbourhood in
Chennai
Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
(formerly
Madras
Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
),
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...
,
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
. It is near the
Fort Saint George, Chennai. It is also known as Muthialpet and Parry's corner. It is an historical area of Chennai city from where its expansion began in the 1640s. It extends from the
Bay of Bengal
The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean, bounded on the west and northwest by India, on the north by Bangladesh, and on the east by Myanmar and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India. Its southern limit is a line between ...
in the east to
Park town on the west. The Fort St. George is on the south, to
Royapuram
Royapuram is a locality in the northern part of the city of Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. It is best known for its beach, and for Royapuram Railway Station. The station is the first railway station of south India, opening in 1856, and is today ...
in the north. The
Fort St. George
Fort St. George (or historically, White Town) is a fortress in the coastal city of Chennai, India. Founded in 1639, it was the first English (later British) fortress in India. The construction of the fort provided the impetus for further ...
houses the
Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly
The Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly is the unicameral legislature of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It has a strength of 234 members of whom are democratically elected using the First-past-the-post voting, First-past-the-post system. The pres ...
and the Secretariat. The
High court of Tamil Nadu at Chennai,
Dr. Ambedkar Law College,
Stanley Medical College
Stanley Medical College (SMC) is a government medical college with hospitals located in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Though the original hospital is more than 200 years old, the medical college was formally established on 2 July 1938.
The medic ...
and Hospital are located here.
History
![Fort St](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b0/Fort_St._George%2C_Chennai_2.jpg)
During the colonial period, the area in and around Muthialpet was renamed as "George Town" by the British in 1911, in honour of
King George V
George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936.
Born during the reign of his grandmother Que ...
when he was crowned as the
Emperor of India
Emperor or Empress of India was a title used by British monarchs from 1 May 1876 (with the Royal Titles Act 1876) to 22 June 1948, that was used to signify their rule over British India, as its imperial head of state. Royal Proclamation of 22 ...
. George Town is one of the names used for Muthialpet. It has the landmark '
Parry
PARRY was an early example of a chatbot, implemented in 1972 by psychiatrist Kenneth Colby.
History
PARRY was written in 1972 by psychiatrist Kenneth Colby, then at Stanford University. While ELIZA was a tongue-in-cheek simulation of a Rogeria ...
building', after which the locality is called '
Parry's Corner'. The area is also called
Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
**Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
, named after a main thoroughfare in Muthialpet.
The first settlement of the city of Madras began here, near the fort.
Fort St George
Fort St. George (or historically, White Town) is a fortress in the coastal city of Chennai, India. Founded in 1639, it was the first English (later British) fortress in India. The construction of the fort provided the impetus for further s ...
began in 1640 as a fortified warehouse for the
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...
. It was built by
Francis Day
Francis Talbot Day (2 March 1829 – 10 July 1889) was an army surgeon and naturalist in the Madras Presidency who later became the Inspector-General of Fisheries in India and Burma. A pioneer ichthyologist, he described more than three hund ...
. The township of native people that began to grow up around it was called the ''Black Town'' by the British. As the city grew, this area became the base for development and construction activities, meeting the needs of people for their livelihood and rulers' administrative comforts. With the construction of one of India's major ports in the area, Madras became an important naval base for the British.
By the early 18th century, growing population and commercial activities resulted in expansion to neighbouring areas. In 1733, the weaving community started to settle down in
Chintadripet
Chintadripet ('originally Chinna Thari Pettai) is a locality in Chennai, in India. Located on the southern banks of the Cooum River, it is a residential-cum-commercial area surrounded by Chepauk, Island Grounds, Pudupet, Egmore and Anna Salai ...
and Collepetta near Tiruvottiyur, since abundant open space was available for weaving. The community of washermen in the Mint area then moved towards the west, forming the present
Washermanpet
Vannarapettai (English: Washermenpet) is a northern neighbourhood of Chennai, India. It is also known as Pazhaya Vannarapettai (English: Old Washermenpet), sometimes shortened as Vannai. It is located north of Parrys Corner and adjacent to R ...
. Potters from this area moved outside the Fort on the north side and formed a new colony named Kosapet. With the construction of a bridge in 1710 to connect
Egmore
Egmore is a neighbourhood of Chennai, India. Situated on the northern banks of the Coovum River, Egmore is an important residential area as well as a commercial and transportation hub. The Egmore Railway Station was the main terminus of the Madr ...
, people started moving towards the present Moore Market area.
File:Plan of Fort St George and the City of Madras 1726.jpg, Plan of Fort St George and the city of Madras in 1726.
File:Frederick Fiebig — Black Town, Madras, 1851.jpg, Hand-coloured photograph of Black Town taken in c.1851 by Frederick Fiebig
Frederick Fiebig was a photographer, best known for his photographs of India, Sri Lanka, Mauritius, and South Africa taken in the 1850s.
History
There is very little information available about Frederick Fiebig. He was probably of German origin ...
.
File:Black town of Madras.jpg, Painting titled 'Black town of Madras' by Sears, Robert (1810-1892).
File:The Bank of Madras.jpeg, The Bank of Madras
The Bank of Madras was one of the three Presidency Banks of British India, along with the Bank of Bengal and the Bank of Bombay. It was established on 1 July 1843 through the amalgamation of a number of existing regional banks and headquartere ...
, c. 1900.
File:The Law College.jpg, The Law College at George Town, c. 1905.
When the
French occupied Madras in 1746 and returned it to the
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
in 1749 in exchange for
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
by the
Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, the English flattened a part of Black Town in order to have a clear field for fire in the event of a future attack. In 1773, the English erected 13 pillars along the flattened area of the Black Town and banned construction in any form between the pillars and the fort which would otherwise block the view of possible invaders. Soon a new township, known as the new Black Town, came up beyond these pillars and the old Black Town gave way to the
Madras High Court
The Madras High Court is a High Court in India. It has appellate jurisdiction over the state of Tamil Nadu and the union territory of Puducherry. It is located in Chennai, and is the third oldest high court of India after the Calcutta High C ...
. A thoroughfare was formed along the stretch between the pillars and the high court which later became the
China Bazaar Road. The only surviving one of the 13 pillars is being maintained in the compound of the Parry's building.
In 1772, the first organised water supply of Madras began with the Seven Wells Scheme. On one occasion,
Mysore
Mysore (), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. Mysore city is geographically located between 12° 18′ 26″ north latitude and 76° 38′ 59″ east longitude. It is located at an altitude of ...
ruler
Hyder Ali
Hyder Ali ( حیدر علی, ''Haidarālī''; 1720 – 7 December 1782) was the Sultan and ''de facto'' ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore in southern India. Born as Hyder Ali, he distinguished himself as a soldier, eventually drawing the att ...
's troops even tried to poison the water source one night.
In the following centuries,
High Court buildings and first light house tower with architectural beauty came up in an area where an old
Hindu
Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
temple of
Sri Chenna Kesava perumal and
Chenna Malleswara swamy existed. This temple was demolished and later shifted to the present place near
Mint Street on
Nethaji Subhash Chandra Bose Road and is popular amongst Hindus as Pattanam Koil.
Several Tamil refugees from Burma, who fled Myanmar during the early sixties, arrived in George Town. In 1969, the
Burma Bazaar
Burma Bazaar is a market run by Burmese refugees in Chennai, India. It is located at Parrys Corner and is one of the several unorganized or grey market shopping hubs of Chennai. The bazaar was set up in 1969 by the Government of Tamil Nadu. It ...
, a market selling imported foreign goods in shops on pavements, was established by these Burmese refugees-turned-entrepreneurs.
Religions and holy shrines
![Anderson_Church,_Chennai](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/08/Anderson_Church%2C_Chennai.JPG)
George Town has a rich congregation of shrines of different faiths within its boundaries. The first Hindu temples of British Madras were built in this neighbourhood between 1640 and 1680. Many of the temples were built since then by the leading merchants of the city, mostly dubashes (middlemen) of British merchants and business establishments. Several of the streets in the neighbourhood are named after these dubashes.
The city's first Jain temples were built in the central part of the western half of the neighbourhood occupied by settlers from Rajasthan and Saurashtra, now known as Sowcarpet. Today, festivals such as Holi, Diwali, and Ganesh Chathurthi are celebrated in the North Indian style.
The first mosque in the neighbourhood was built in the 1670s on Moor Street. The mosque, however, does not exist today. The oldest surviving mosque is the huge Masjid Mamoor in Angappa Naicken Street, which was built in the eighteenth century.
The first
Madras Synagogue
The Madras Synagogue is the only synagogue in Madras and it was built by Jacques (Jaime) de Paiva (Pavia) a Paradesi Jew of Madras. Madras Synagogue was also known as the Esnoga, or Snoge, ''Esnoga'' is synagogue in Ladino, the traditio ...
was built in Coral Merchant Street, which had a large presence of Portuguese
Paradesi Jews
Paradesi Jews were Jews, Jewish people who immigrated to the Indian subcontinent during the 15th and 16th centuries following the expulsion of Jews from Spain. ''Paradesi'' refers to the Malayalam word that means ''foreign'' as they were newc ...
in the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The
Madras Synagogue
The Madras Synagogue is the only synagogue in Madras and it was built by Jacques (Jaime) de Paiva (Pavia) a Paradesi Jew of Madras. Madras Synagogue was also known as the Esnoga, or Snoge, ''Esnoga'' is synagogue in Ladino, the traditio ...
doesn't exist today, but there is said to be a "handful" of Jews (not including people with Jewish lineage) in Madras city today.
The oldest church is the Armenian Church on Armenian Street. The Cathedral of St Mary of the Angels located next to the church has its presence since 1642. However, the first Catholic place of worship in the neighbourhood was built before the St. Mary's cathedral. Protestant churches, however, were built only in the nineteenth century, with the first English Protestant Church built in 1810 on Davidson Street.
The Muthialpet area, the western part of George Town extending northwards from the
Madras High Court
The Madras High Court is a High Court in India. It has appellate jurisdiction over the state of Tamil Nadu and the union territory of Puducherry. It is located in Chennai, and is the third oldest high court of India after the Calcutta High C ...
, is one of the 163 notified areas (megalithic sites) in the state of Tamil Nadu.
Demographics
Residents of George Town in earlier days were mainly
Telugus
Telugu people ( te, తెలుగువారు, Teluguvāru), or Telugus, or Telugu vaaru, are the largest of the four major Dravidian ethnolinguistic groups in terms of population. Telugus are native to the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh ...
with sizable population of
Tamils
The Tamil people, also known as Tamilar ( ta, தமிழர், Tamiḻar, translit-std=ISO, in the singular or ta, தமிழர்கள், Tamiḻarkaḷ, translit-std=ISO, label=none, in the plural), or simply Tamils (), are a Drav ...
. In the core area, streets are named after Telugu people such as Govindappa Naick, Angappa Naick, Adiyappa Naick, Narayana Mudali, Kasi Chetty, Rasappa Chetty, Varada Muthiappan, Thatha Muthiappan, Kondi Chetty, Linghi Chetty, Thambu Chetty, and so forth. A major part of trade and business was in the hands of Telugus. Apart from locals, people from other parts of the country as well as foreign nationals who had trade and business links with the 'British East India Company' were living in this area. Many of the streets bear the name of the business that people in the locality were engaged in. Men who were doing business in corals lived together in Coral Merchants Street (பவழக்கார தெரு) and people from
Armenia
Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...
(a former state of
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
) doing business with the English were living in
Armenian Street (அரண்மனைக்காரர் தெரு). A church called
Armenian Church
Armenian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent
** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...
was also constructed in the same area for them. As the town was developing manifold, people from all over India settled here doing business in all fields, chiefly from
Rajasthan
Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern si ...
,
Gujarat
Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...
,
Maharashtra
Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...
and
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...
. The area occupied by the North Indians, chiefly
Marwaris from Rajasthan and Gujarat, in the twentieth century came to be known as
Sowcarpet
Sowcarpet is a neighborhood in the northern part of Chennai, India. Sowcarpet is one of the oldest neighborhoods of the city with narrow streets and vintage buildings. It is a bustling commercial area of the city, and a range of wholesale mark ...
(literally 'area of the rich', derived from the word 'sahukar' meaning money lender in
Hindi
Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...
).
Geography
George Town extends roughly from
Chennai Central railway station
Chennai Central (station code: MAS, short for ''Madras''), officially known as Puratchi Thalaivar Dr. M.G. Ramachandran Central Railway Station, is the main railway terminus in the city of Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. It is the busiest railway ...
and
People's Park in the west to the
Bay of Bengal
The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean, bounded on the west and northwest by India, on the north by Bangladesh, and on the east by Myanmar and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India. Its southern limit is a line between ...
in the east. To the north is
Basin Bridge
Basin Bridge Junction is a station on the Chennai Suburban Railway and serves the locality of Basin Bridge, the confluence on the Otteri Nullah and Buckingham Canal, in Chennai, India. The station is located at the southern end of the 'diamo ...
and
Royapuram
Royapuram is a locality in the northern part of the city of Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. It is best known for its beach, and for Royapuram Railway Station. The station is the first railway station of south India, opening in 1856, and is today ...
while
Fort St George
Fort St. George (or historically, White Town) is a fortress in the coastal city of Chennai, India. Founded in 1639, it was the first English (later British) fortress in India. The construction of the fort provided the impetus for further s ...
bounds it on the south.
Prakasam Salai (Broadway), originally Popham's Broadway, divided George Town into two portions, the eastern part of which was historically known as Muthialpet and the western past, Peddanaickenpet.
Roads and streets
![Fort St](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a9/Fort_St._George_George_Town_Chennai_India_-_panoramio_%281%29.jpg)
Major roads of the neighbourhood include
Netaji Subash Chandra Bose Road
Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Road is an important road in South Kolkata that runs in a north-west to south-east direction. It connects the localities of Tollygunge in the north-west and Rajpur Sonarpur in the south through Garia.
The road is nar ...
(popularly known as China Bazaar Road),
Rajaji Salai (formerly First Line Beach road) and
Wall Tax Road. The streets are generally small and narrow with several lanes branching out of them. The longest street is Mint Street, which starts near
Central Railway Station making way across the neighbourhood for about 4 km towards north and ends near Vallalar Nagar. The street derived its name from a mint of the East India Company that existed at the end of this street during the British era.
Now the building houses Central Printing Press of
Government of Tamil Nadu
Government of Tamil Nadu is the subnational government for the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is seated at Fort St George, Chennai. The legislature of Tamil Nadu was bicameral until 1986, when it was replaced by a unicameral legislature, lik ...
. This is considered one of few longest streets in the world. Several government offices, both state and central governments, including
Andaman & Nicobar Island government's administrative offices of Shipping and Tourism Departments, are located on Rajaji Salai. The very attractive Burma Bazaar, noted for selling electronic goods and other items at cheaper rates, once mostly run by Burmese refugees, is also located on this road.
Parry's Corner
Parry's Corner (known in Tamil as Paari Munai, ta, பாரி முனை) is a neighborhood in George Town. Often referred to as Parry's, it is situated near the
Chennai Port
Chennai Port, formerly known as Madras Port, is the second largest container port of India, behind Mumbai's Nhava Sheva. The port is the largest one in the Bay of Bengal. It is the third-oldest port among the 13 major ports of India with offici ...
, at the intersection of
North Beach Road
North Beach Road is a distributor road in the northern suburbs of Perth, Western Australia, running from Gwelup to North Beach. It is mostly a two-lane divided carriageway. The central section of the road, from Reid Highway to Erindale Road, ...
and
NSC Bose Road. It is named after
Thomas Parry, a
Welsh
Welsh may refer to:
Related to Wales
* Welsh, referring or related to Wales
* Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales
* Welsh people
People
* Welsh (surname)
* Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...
merchant who set up the
EID Parry
East India Distilleries (EID) Parry Limited is an Indian public company headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu that has been in business for more than 225 years. It has many firsts to its credit, including the manufacturing of fertilizers (1906 ...
Company in 1787, the corporate headquarters of which stand on the corner.
The place is an important center for
commercial bank
A commercial bank is a financial institution which accepts deposits from the public and gives loans for the purposes of consumption and investment to make profit.
It can also refer to a bank, or a division of a large bank, which deals with cor ...
ing and trading, and also a major hub for the intracity bus service. It is one of the most congested areas in the city. The area has many popular schools like
St. Mary's Anglo-Indian Higher Secondary School, St. Columban's Anglo-Indian Higher Secondary School. The
Anderson Church is the oldest and most prominent church in the region.
Streets and specialities
Several streets in the neighbourhood is known for their dedicated businesses and services. The following table lists some of the streets and the chief services they are known for.
Architecture
Being one of the oldest settlements in the modern city of Chennai, George Town remains a classic example of a confluence of different architectural styles. The neighbourhood is known for several classic styles of buildings such as
Indo-Saracenic
Indo-Saracenic architecture (also known as Indo-Gothic, Mughal-Gothic, Neo-Mughal, or Hindoo style) was a revivalist architectural style mostly used by British architects in India in the later 19th century, especially in public and government ...
,
Neoclassical,
Gothic
Gothic or Gothics may refer to:
People and languages
*Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes
**Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths
**Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
, and
Art Deco
Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...
, apart from several traditional vernacular styles. Each building presents its uniqueness in its architectural character.
Dare House
Dare House is an art deco building in Chennai, India which houses the offices of the Murugappa Group. Constructed between 1938 and 1940, it is named after William Dare, one of the partners of Parry & Co. from 1819 to 1838. The surrounding ne ...
in
Parrys Corner
George Town is a neighbourhood in Chennai (formerly Madras), Tamil Nadu, India. It is near the Fort Saint George, Chennai. It is also known as Muthialpet and Parry's corner. It is an historical area of Chennai city from where its expansion bega ...
, an Art Deco–style building, for instance, sports an emphasis on vertical lines and a distinct design of a 'sunburst jaali' for ventilation.
Buildings and landmarks
This area has many heritage and modern buildings on
Rajaji salai and
NSC Bose Road. Heritage buildings include the
High Court Buildings, the Old Lighthouse Tower and the
Law College
Legal education is the education of individuals in the principles, practices, and theory of law. It may be undertaken for several reasons, including to provide the knowledge and skills necessary for admission to legal practice in a particular ...
building at Parry's Corner and the
GPO GPO may refer to:
Government and politics
* General Post Office, Dublin
* General Post Office, in Britain
* Social Security Government Pension Offset, a provision reducing benefits
* Government Pharmaceutical Organization, a Thai state enterpris ...
building and
Reserve Bank of India Building on Rajaji Salai. Other modern buildings are Parry's
Dare House
Dare House is an art deco building in Chennai, India which houses the offices of the Murugappa Group. Constructed between 1938 and 1940, it is named after William Dare, one of the partners of Parry & Co. from 1819 to 1838. The surrounding ne ...
, the State Bank of Mysore Building, the New Collectorate Office Building (Singaravelar Maaligai), Kuralagam, and the BSNL office buildings. Raja Annamalai Mandram is a big hall where indoor meetings, cultural activities and dramas are held. In addition, there are lot of buildings owned by business community and government.
Land use
The land use in George Town primarily comprises residential and mixed-residential zones. It is classified as a 'continuous building area', permitting structures of ground-plus-one floor, with a floor space index of 1.5. As of 2014, the business district has more than 14,000 buildings with around 25,000 property tax assessees.
All buildings in George Town have been found in violation of development regulations, with several buildings found to have been constructed without obtaining building approval from the corporation.
Economy
![Parrys Corner, Chennai, India](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/Parrys_Corner%2C_Chennai%2C_India.jpg)
George Town is the birthplace of the economy of the city that began to flourish in the 17th century. Being the primary neighbourhood of the then burgeoning city of Madras, George Town houses several commercial establishments of national importance. It long housed the
central business district
A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...
of the city, until the 1960s, when it began to drift towards the south to reach the
Gemini circle.
Banking
The neighbourhood and the surrounding areas were home to several ''Nattukottai Chettiars'' or ''Nagarathars'', who offered banking services to the public in the city before the establishment of modern commercial banks. They both offered loans to and accepted money deposits from the public, besides offering loans to the agricultural labourers. Several banking and financial offices were housed in heritage structures from the Colonial era, clustered chiefly around
North Beach Road
North Beach Road is a distributor road in the northern suburbs of Perth, Western Australia, running from Gwelup to North Beach. It is mostly a two-lane divided carriageway. The central section of the road, from Reid Highway to Erindale Road, ...
, many of which continue to exist to the present day.
The first European-style banking system in India was started in George Town with the establishment of the 'Madras Bank' on 21 June 1683, almost a century before the establishment of the first commercial banks, such as the Bank of Hindustan and the General Bank of India, which were established in 1770 and 1786, respectively. However, the bank proved a failure.
Upon the recommendation of the British Finance Committee on the formation of a government bank, the Madras Bank, then known as the 'Government Bank', started functioning again from 1806. In 1843, the bank merged with the Carnatic Bank (1788), the British Bank of Madras (1795) and the Asiatic Bank (1804) and became the
Bank of Madras
The Bank of Madras was one of the three Presidency Banks of British India, along with the Bank of Bengal and the Bank of Bombay. It was established on 1 July 1843 through the amalgamation of a number of existing regional banks and headquartere ...
, which was one of the three Presidency banks of India. In 1921, it merged with the other two Presidency banks, namely the
Bank of Bengal and the
Bank of Bombay
The Bank of Bombay was the second of the three presidency banks (others being the Bank of Calcutta and the Bank of Madras) of the Raj period. It was established, pursuant to a charter of the British East India Company, on 15 April 1840.
The b ...
, to form the
Imperial Bank of India
The Imperial Bank of India (IBI) was one of the oldest and the largest commercial bank of the Indian subcontinent, and was subsequently transformed into the State Bank of India in 1955. Initially, as per its royal charter, it acted as the cen ...
, which later became the
State Bank of India
State Bank of India (SBI) is an Indian multinational public sector bank and financial services statutory body headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra. SBI is the 49th largest bank in the world by total assets and ranked 221st in the ''Fortune ...
in 1955.
The neighbourhood is also home to the
south zonal office of the
Reserve Bank of India
The Reserve Bank of India, chiefly known as RBI, is India's central bank and regulatory body responsible for regulation of the Indian banking system. It is under the ownership of Ministry of Finance, Government of India. It is responsible for ...
, the country's central bank.
Transportation
George Town remains the geographical and geometrical focal point of Chennai where all the radial roads and railroads of the city converge. The arterial roads, namely, North and South Beach Roads,
Anna Salai
Anna Salai (), formerly known as St. Thomas Mount Road or simply Mount Road, is an arterial road in Chennai, India. It starts at the Cooum Creek, south of Fort St George, leading in a south-westerly direction towards St. Thomas Mount, and end ...
,
Poonamallee High Road
EVR Periyar Salai (EVR High Road), earlier known as Poonamallee High Road (NH 48) and originally the Grand Western Trunk Road, is an arterial road in Chennai, India. It is the longest road in Chennai. Running from east to west, the road start ...
, Grand Northern Trunk Road, and Ennore High Road radiate from the neighbourhood, and both the primary terminal railway stations of the city, namely,
Chennai Central
Chennai Central (station code: MAS, short for ''Madras''), officially known as Puratchi Thalaivar Dr. M.G. Ramachandran Central Railway Station, is the main railway terminus in the city of Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. It is the busiest railway ...
and
Chennai Beach
Chennai Beach (formerly known as Madras Beach) (station code: MSB) is a railway terminus of the Southern Railway network in Parry's Corner, Chennai, India. Built on reclaimed land, the station serves the suburban services of the Chennai Subu ...
borders the western and eastern sides of the neighbourhood. In addition to the two terminal stations, many suburban railway stations are located circumferentially around the neighbourhood, namely,
Chennai Central Suburban,
Chennai Fort
Chennai Fort (formerly known as Madras Fort) (station code: MSF) is a station on the Chennai Suburban Railway and Chennai MRTS. It is the second station on the Chennai MRTS line from Chennai Beach to Velachery.
History
The station is named a ...
,
Chennai Park
Chennai Park railway station (or just Park station) is one of the railway stations in Chennai, India, on the Chennai Beach– Chengelpet section of the Chennai Suburban Railway Network. It serves the neighbourhood of Park Town, a suburb of Che ...
and
Park Town, all located in the south and southwest fringes,
Basin Bridge Junction at the western fringe, and
Royapuram railway station
Royapuram railway station (station code: RPM) is a railway station at Royapuram, on the Chennai Beach–Walajapet section of the Chennai Suburban Railway network in Chennai, India. It is the second oldest railway station currently operational ...
at the northern fringe. The neighbourhood has a bus terminus, the
Broadway Bus Stand near Parry's Corner.
The intercity and interstate express bus terminus originally functioned at the Broadway terminus near
Madras High Court
The Madras High Court is a High Court in India. It has appellate jurisdiction over the state of Tamil Nadu and the union territory of Puducherry. It is located in Chennai, and is the third oldest high court of India after the Calcutta High C ...
in an area covering about 1.5 acres. With increasing transportation needs, the terminus was shifted to the
new premises covering 36.5 acres at
Koyambedu
Koyambedu is a neighbourhood in Chennai, India. Situated in the western part of Chennai city, the Koyambedu area has become a major hub of activity in Chennai City after the inauguration of the Koyambedu market in 1996 and the Chennai Mofussil ...
in 2002 constructed at a cost of 1,030 million.
In January 2013, further to the public interest litigation petition filed in the court, the
Corporation
A corporation is an organization—usually a group of people or a company—authorized by the state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law "born out of statute"; a legal person in legal context) and r ...
decided to improve the
Broadway bus terminus
The Broadway bus terminus is the largest city bus terminus of the Metropolitan Transport Corporation (Chennai), Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. It is located in the downtown area of the city, viz. Parry's corner and Chennai Fort, Fort. It lies oppos ...
at an estimated cost of 33.6 million.
Education
Colleges and universities
George Town is home to various government-run colleges and institutions.
Dr. Ambedkar Law College, initially known as Madras Law College, was established in 1891. The medical college of the
Government Stanley Medical College and Hospital was established in 1938 although the hospital was established by the turn of the 19th century. The
Government Dental College and Hospital was established in 1953. Bharathi Women's College is located in the northern side of the neighbourhood.
Primary and secondary schools
It has many premier schools which includes
St. Mary's Anglo-Indian Higher Secondary School, St Francis Xavier Anglo-Indian Hr secondary school, St. Columban's Anglo-Indian Higher Secondary School and other schools including The Muthialpet Higher Secondary School, St.Gabriel's Higher Secondary School, Ramiah Girls High School, MEASI Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Muthialpet Girls School, Bishop Corrie Higher Secondary School and Dominic Savio School.
Developments
Although George Town is the origin of the modern city of Chennai and remained the chief commercial hub of the city till the early 20th century, the city's central business district gradually moved towards the south since the mid-20th century, presently lying at the
Gemini Circle on
Anna Salai
Anna Salai (), formerly known as St. Thomas Mount Road or simply Mount Road, is an arterial road in Chennai, India. It starts at the Cooum Creek, south of Fort St George, leading in a south-westerly direction towards St. Thomas Mount, and end ...
. This resulted in paucity of development funds for the northern region of the city. However, some of the community-specific areas of George Town, such as
Sowcarpet
Sowcarpet is a neighborhood in the northern part of Chennai, India. Sowcarpet is one of the oldest neighborhoods of the city with narrow streets and vintage buildings. It is a bustling commercial area of the city, and a range of wholesale mark ...
where the prosperous
Marwari community resides, still remains an important commercial hub of the city.
Political awareness
Political awareness among citizens of George Town is very high. Almost all leaders of national and state political parties used to hold street meetings contacting people and propagating their aims and principles. Leaders such as
C. N. Annadurai
Conjeevaram Natarajan Annadurai (15 September 1909 – 3 February 1969), popularly known as Anna also known as Arignar Anna or Perarignar Anna (''Anna, the scholar'' or ''Elder Brother''), was an Indian Tamil politician who served as the fo ...
,
K. Kamaraj
Kumaraswami Kamaraj (15 July 1903 – 2 October 1975, hinduonnet.com. 15–28 September 2001), popularly known as Kamarajar was an Indian independence activist and politician who served as the Chief Minister of Madras State (Tamil Nadu) ...
,
C. Rajagopalachary,
E. V. K. Ramaswamy Naicker,
M. P. Sivagnanam
Mylai Ponnuswamy Sivagnanam,[Padma Awards 1972](_blank)
padmaawards.gov.in popularl ...
(Ma. Po. Si), Andhra leaders such as T. Prakasam and also Mahatma Gandhi, Annie Besant and many others did not miss this part of the city. With huge immigrant population settled here, not only local and state politics but also politics of all other states of the country and even foreign nations are well known here. All political parties make it a point to be in good books of the citizens. The DMK party, one of the chief political parties of Tamil Nadu, counts Coral Merchant Street as its birthplace in 1949.
Location in context
See also
* Timeline of Chennai history#17th century, Timeline of Chennai history
* History of Chennai
References
External links
History of Fort St George and Georgetown
{{Use dmy dates, date=February 2017
Neighbourhoods in Chennai
Coastal neighbourhoods of Chennai