Map of Georgetown

Click on any one of the red dots to visit that site.
Map redrawn and adapted from 'Streets of Georgetown, Penang'. See credit at bottom of page.

Visual Index of Georgetown Sites (Site name and description)
	Acheen St. Mosque (1808) A mosque noted for its unusual Egyptian-style minaret		Cathedral of the Assumption (early 1800s) Cathedral founded by Eurasian refugees.
	Central Fire Station (1909) A historic firehouse.		Chapel at Fort Cornwallis (1799) The oldest roofed building in Georgetown
	Clan Jetties (19th century) Clan villages laid out on stilts along long, narrow jetties.		Cheah Kongsi Clan Temple (1890s, restored 1990s) The oldest of the temples of the Chinese clan associations.
	Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion (1890s, restored 1990s) The fully restored mansion of a the "Rockefeller of Asia".		City Hall (19th century) A colonial-era British building.
	Clock Tower (1897) A 60 foot clock tower built on the 60th year of Queen Victoria's reign.		Dhammikarama Temple (1803) The oldest Burmese Buddhist temple in Malaysia.
	Fort Cornwallis (early 19th century) One of the first structures on the island after the English takeover		Georgetown Streets Random views of the multi-ethnic streets.
	Hainan Temple (1866-1895, refurbished 1895) Dedicated to Mar Chor, the patron saint of seafarers.		Khoo Kongsi Clan Temple (1906) Temple for the Khoo clan from Hokkien province, China.
	King and Gereja Streets Headquarters of triads and secret societies.		Loon Gnee Hing Lodge (possibly early 20th century) Lodge originally used by Hainanese seafarers.
	Loo Pun Hong Guild House (1880s) Carpenters' guild house, dedicated to Lo Pan, the legendary maker of tools.		Mahamariamman Temple (1833) A Hindu temple dedicated to the godess Mariamman.
	Masjid Keling (1800) The largest mosque on the island.		Nagore Shrine (early 1800s) Shrine in honor of a 13th century Nagore saint.
	Ng Fook Tong School (1898) A night school for Chinese.		Penang Teochew Association (1870s onward) Merchant's building and temple for members of the Teochew dialect of Southern China.
	Seh Teoh Kongsi Clan Temple (1895, 1931) Cheong Fatt Tze's clan temple.		St. George's Church (1818) An early Anglican church built with convict labor,
	Sun Yat-sen's Penang Base (late 1800s) Sun Yat-sen's Penang base during the early 1900s.		Supreme Court Building. (1905) Supreme Court Building.
	Syed Alatas Mansion. (mid 19th century) The 19th century mansion of a Muslim merchant.		Ta Kam Hong Goldsmith's Association (1903) A guild temple dedicated to Wu Ching.
	Yap Kongsi Clan Temple (late 19th century) Built to the God of prosperity by a secret society.		Yeoh Kongsi Clan Temple (1836) A clan temple of the Yeoh surname.

About Georgetown

Penang, the site of the oldest British settlement in Malaysia, is an island of 110 square miles off the northwest coast of Malaysia.

Under the possession of the sultans of Kedah, the island, with few inhabitants at the time, came under British control in the 1780s, largely through the efforts of the English adventurer and trader, Captain Francis Light. The East India Company had sought a station on the east coast of the Bay of Bengal to provide protection against the French threat, provide a challenge to Dutch traders and also provide a base for supplies for the growing Company trade with China. The rulers of Kedah on the mainland had sought British support against a threatened Siamese invasion in 1786. Light agreed on British aid in exchange for Penang. The East India Company formed its first settlement on the island in July, 1786. Yet it also failed to provide the necessary protection for the Kedah Malays; their attempt to recapture the island was unsuccessful.

The initial settlement, named Georgetown (sometimes George Town) after King George III was laid out on a promontory on the easternmost part of Penang Island. Independence from the British came to Malaya and Penang in 1957. Today Georgetown has a population of over 400,000 in the environs of the capital and is Malaysia's main seaport. It is largely a Chinese city with a rich mixture of Indian, Malay, Thai, Indonesian and British and other western elements and western society. Penang has maintained its position as a major trading center, but has also emerged as an important site for manufacturing especially in the burgeoning electronics and computer industries.

Text by Robert D. Fiala.

Location