George Town's Beach Street: Then and now

I wasn't satisfied with the picture I had used in my blog post last Tuesday, so I purposely went out to George Town again to snap a second shot. As much as possible, I really want to recreate the same view as shown in the old print. It's still not very exact but fortunately, close enough for comparison.

More than a hundred years separate the two images. There are changes upon changes but many things still remain the same.

The building on the right side of the road - once occupied by Pritchard & Co - is still standing although the height has been reduced from three storeys to just two. Barkath Store, before they bought up the tall building on the other side of the road in the second picture, used to operate from the corner of the bullding where Pritchard & co once occupied.

In the first picture, the front of the white building on the left side of the road was demolished when the Mercantile Bank put up their glass facade. Although an attempt has been made to restore the facade of the building, it's quite clear from the second picture that it's now recessed inwards, no doubt a result of local regulations. The one-storey building on the left in the first picture is now replaced by the ABN-AMRO building housing the Royal Bank of Scotland branch in George Town.

Oh yes, the road is just as crowded today but modern motor vehicles have replaced the pull rickshaws of a hundred years ago.