Tamil Nadu Timeline

InfrastructureBritish Crown rule

Governor Grant Duff creates the Marina promenade

· Marina Beach

Governor Grant Duff creates the Marina promenade
SlowPhoton, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Governor Mountstuart Elphinstone Grant Duff laid out a promenade along the Madras beach in 1884 and named it the Marina.

Mountstuart Elphinstone Grant Duff, Governor of Madras from 1881 to 1886, had admired the beach on an earlier visit in the late 1870s. In 1884 he had a promenade built along the shore by reshaping and layering it with sand. He gave it the name Marina, recalling the seafront of Palermo in Sicily. The promenade became the city's main public space, and statues, memorials and public buildings were later added along it.

Related events

  1. 1869

    1. 1869Napier BridgeInfrastructure

      Napier Bridge built over the Cooum

      Planned by Governor Lord Napier, a cast iron lattice bridge went up over the Cooum's mouth, joining Fort St. George to the Marina side.

  2. 1873

    1. 1873Chennai CentralInfrastructure

      Madras Central railway station built

      Designed by George Harding and later altered by Robert Chisholm, Madras Central station was put up by the Madras Railway as its terminus in the city.

  3. 1883

    1. 17 Dec 1883 to 1890Victoria Public HallInfrastructure

      Victoria Public Hall built in Madras

      The foundation stone of Victoria Public Hall, the town hall of Madras, was laid in 1883; it was named after Queen Victoria in 1888.

  4. 1923

    1. 1 May 1923Marina BeachProtest

      First May Day celebration in India

      Singaravelar organised the first May Day celebration in India at Madras and launched the Labour Kisan Party of Hindustan.

  5. 1968

    1. 2 Jan 1968Marina BeachCulture

      Statues of Tamil literary figures erected on the Marina

      Statues of Tamil poets and scholars, including Kambar, Bharathiyar and Robert Caldwell, were unveiled on Marina Beach for the World Tamil Conference.

  6. 1990

    1. May 1990Marina BeachCulture

      MGR memorial on the Marina inaugurated

      The memorial to M. G. Ramachandran on Marina Beach, begun in 1988, was inaugurated by his widow V. N. Janaki Ramachandran.

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