Broadway Show: Fort St. George

Discover Chennai's own 18th Century 'broadway'

If Fort St. George was the nerve centre of the British East India Company in Madras, now Chennai, George Town was its backbone! George Town’s main thoroughfare, connecting it North to South, was Broadway built towards the end of the 18th Century. Broadway remained a major centre for business and shopping for most of the 19th Century.

Today there is nothing ‘broad’ about Broadway. It is a busy street with vehicles of all shapes and sizes negotiating for space with pedestrians. However, Broadway is extremely rich in its history unlike any other street of Chennai, starting with the fascinating story of the very person who gave the street its original name “Pophams Broadway”. Broadway was home to a jail, movie theatres, newspapers, churches, culinary institutions, department stores, theatre and drama societies, and much more. Many of them were the first of their kind not just in Madras but also across India. Most of these businesses have moved out however their ‘homes’ have survived to tell a tale.

So come to Broadway and experience the grand show that plays out on its streets every day. A one-way ride on a cycle rickshaw is how we will applaud the performance.

Image credits: L.vivian.richard