Ripon Building becomes home of the Madras Corporation

1913 · Ripon Building

The Madras Municipal Corporation moved into the newly completed Ripon Building in 1913; Lord Minto had laid its foundation stone in 1909.

The Ripon Building was commissioned in 1909 and designed by G. T. S. Harris. Viceroy Lord Minto laid its foundation stone in December 1909, and it was built by Loganatha Mudaliar over four years. It was named after Lord Ripon, remembered as the father of local self-government in India. The Municipal Corporation of Madras, which had earlier worked from several other premises, moved into the building in 1913. The white neoclassical building near Central station remains the headquarters of the Greater Chennai Corporation.

Related events

1896

1896Connemara Public LibraryEducation
Connemara Public Library opens
The Connemara Public Library, founded in 1890 by Governor Lord Connemara, opened to the public in Madras in 1896.

1900

1900Chennai CentralEconomy
Moore Market completed in Madras
Completed in 1900 beside Madras Central, Moore Market was an Indo-Saracenic building meant to accommodate the hawkers of Broadway.

1908

11 Jun 1908EgmoreInfrastructure
Madras Egmore station building opens
The Indo-Saracenic terminal of Egmore station, Madras terminus of the South Indian Railway, was opened on 11 June 1908.

1912

1912ChennaiCinema
R. Venkaiah opens the Gaiety cinema in Madras
Film pioneer Raghupathi Venkaiah Naidu built the Gaiety in 1912, one of the first permanent cinema theatres in Madras.

1920

1920Thousand LightsWelfare
Madras Corporation starts a school meal scheme
At a corporation school in Thousand Lights, the Madras Corporation started a breakfast scheme that foreshadowed Tamil Nadu's noon meal programmes.

1933

8 Mar 1933Ripon BuildingGovernance
Office of Mayor of Madras created
The post of Mayor of Madras was revived and M. A. Muthiah Chettiar became the first holder of the modern office.