The Historic GPO Building and the Postal History of Madras

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Sending communication through people to other cities or countries was a practice followed for hundreds of years. The Britishers also followed a similar service when they started postal service. In Madras, Governor Harrison began using the service of a dak runner to send mails to Bengal in 1736 CE. In 1774 CE, the practice of charging for postal service for private letters started. On 1st June 1786 CE, the first General Post Office was started outside the Sea Gate. The post office was shifted to two different locations. Ultimately, it moved into the current building on Rajaji Salai in George Town on 26th April 1884 CE.

The splendid GPO building was designed by Chisholm. This Indo-Saracenic style building was constructed for about ten years between 1874 and 1884 CE. This building is gigantic and occupies around 55,000 sq feet. The two 125 feet tall towers are beautiful. The red-colored exterior looks majestic even today but not the interior of the building anymore. In 2000 C.E., a significant fire accident gutted down the interior entirely.

Happy travelling.

P.S. Thanks to the book "Madras Rediscovered" by S. Muthiah for the dates and other historical information.









Location: George Town, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

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