Rich in legacy

Rich in legacy
Deccan Herald

Richmond Road was named after Richmond, a famous advocate of Madras High Court, who was intimately connected with the administration of Madras Presidency, When Bangalore Cantonment was a part of Madras province.

A good length of the Richmond Road passes through the once snug and now high profile Richmond Town. But the road itself, now renamed as General K S Thimmayya Road, starts close to the Trinity Circle on one end and ends at Richmond Circle, where the Residency Road and Raja Ram Mohan Roy Road meet near Woodlands Hotel.

The road was named after Richmond, a famous advocate of Madras High Court, who was intimately connected with the administration of Madras Presidency, When Bangalore Cantonment was a part of Madras province.

This road forms part of the address of two prominent schools. Baldwin Girls High School, run by the Methodist Church of India, was established in 1880. Over the years it has grown into an educational complex including Baldwin Girls Junior College and Baldwin’s Women’s Methodist College. Cathedral High School, spread over seven acres of land was started in 1886, has now grown to Cathedral Composite Pre-University College. The school has its origins in an orphanage but since 1949 has been known as the Cathedral High School.

Close to the Cathedral School near D’Souza Circle is the Sacred Heart Church. The sprawling campus of the church also accommodates the Sacred Heart Boys’s School and a Community Hall.

Another building from the past is the Masjid-e-Askari.

The original building was constructed by Ali Asker, an ancestor of Sir Mirza Ismail, about 95 years ago. It was subsequently renovated. The “Haj Bhavan” of the Karnataka State Haj Committee is located close by. A bungalow which survives from the past now serves as the headquarters of The Mysore Tobacco Company. It also houses the Karnataka State Agricultural Produce Processing and Export Corporation Limited. It has a large garden.

Over a decade ago, Richmond Road was known for its bungalows and buildings with ornate architecture, most of which have now disappeared as the area became more and more urbanised. In its place have come up flashy buildings.

One such building belongs to Reliance Industries Limited, another to the Globus brand.

The buildings by the side of this road is now home to a variety of commercial activities.