This is a postcard showing Singapore in the early 1900s. The picture on the left presents a view of Battery Road showing the Dispensary Building and John Little & Co. opposite it. Battery Road was built between 1827 and 1829. It was a busy road teeming with people and traffic as it was the major road linking Fullerton Square to the commercial district at Raffles Place. The road got its name from the battery at Fort Fullerton which was constructed in 1829 to defend Singapore at the river mouth but was demolished in 1873. The Dispensary Building was so named as it was occupied by the clinics of many top doctors. John Little & Co. was a premier departmental store catering mostly to Europeans.The picture on the right shows Cavenagh Bridge. The bridge was built in 1869 by convict labourers. Its completion coincided with the visit of the Duke of Edinburgh in the same year and was thus originally called Edinburgh Bridge to commemorate the event. It was later renamed in honour of Colonel Orfeur Cavenagh, the Governor of Singapore from 1859 to 1867. Cavenagh Bridge connected the government offices in Empress Place to the commercial district and negated the necessity of a ferry ride.
