A bygone era

The Treasury building in the early part of the 20th century

I'm on a roll. These old postcard pictures are fascinating and show a Phnom Penh that is rapidly disappearing. In an earlier post I showed photos of the Treasury and the Town Hall buildings as they are today. Above and below are postcards of the same buildings from the early part of the 20th century.

The Town Hall residence in 1908

Finally, below is another view of the Pont de Verneville and the entrance into the Tonle Sap River. This bridge must've been an incredible sight in its heyday before it was demolished in the 1930s.

Gone but not forgotten

The glorious Pont de Verneville, constructed at the turn of the century, but demolished just 30 years later

Unfortunately, the de Verneville Bridge was not part of the tour of the old French quarter of Phnom Penh as it was demolished at the beginning of the 1930s. Why such a glorious structure was not kept for posterity we shall never know, except that it no doubt, stood in the way of progress. The city's grand canal was constructed in 1894 and marked the European (French) quarter of the city. The canal was 3,100 metres long with three different arms; it entered from the Tonle Sap, ran east to west along Quai Verneville (now Street 106) and south to north adjacent to boulevard Monsignor Miche (now Monivong Boulevard), before swinging eastwards again to exit into the Tonle Sap at the end of boulevard Charles Thomson (now France Street 47) at the site of the Pont de Verneville. Built a little later than the canal itself, this enormous structure was also called the Dollars Bridge and housed a mobile footbridge. Today it would've stood at the entrance to the Japanese Friendship Bridge that crosses the river. The only reminder we have today are these images from old postcards, which show some of the unique features of the city that are sadly now long gone.

A 1930 ariel view of the de Verneville Bridge (white) and the Tonle Sap River, just before the bridge was demolished and the canal filled in

Looking back

Pont de Vernéville in Phnom Penh 1904

Le Pont Fabre in Phnom Penh 1904

History fascinates me. It always has and I hope it always will. So I was disappointed when I had to miss last Sunday's Khmer Ephemera at Meta House. Joel Montague was presenting examples from his French colonial paper collection that included old postcards and posters of Cambodia. If you want your own taste of old Cambodia seen through early photographic postcards, then look no further than here which has scanned copies of some wonderful images. I've included a couple here, both of them bridges in Phnom Penh that are sadly no longer with us, but what amazing structures they were.
To give you a bit more info about one of the bridges, Pont de Vernéville, here's an extract from a Ministry of Culture website:
The development of modern Phnom Penh began during the 1890s under the direction of architect-town planner Daniel Fabré (1850-1904). During this period the colonial administration made various attempts to resolve the recurrent problem of flooding by filling in several small natural lakes and digging a series of interlinked canals to provide better drainage. The most important of these was the canal completed in 1894, which effectively encircled the quartier Européen. This canal entered from the Tonle Sap, ran east to west along quai Vernéville (now Street 106) and south to north adjacent to boulevard Monsignor Miche (now Monivong Boulevard), before swinging eastwards again to exit into the Tonle Sap at the end of boulevard Charles Thomson (now France Street 47) at the site of a former bridge, the Pont de Vernéville.

Canal de Vernéville 1904 that ran through Phnom Penh

Talking of old photos, I remembered that my mug shot appeared in the Phnom Penh Post at the back end of last year whilst attending a movie preview at Meta House. Here it is but I don't exactly look like a happy bunny do I, and neither does my date for the night, Ameas. A much more happier looking photo was taken at Tuol Sleng of all places a few weeks earlier. It was the first time that Ameas and her sister had been to Tuol Sleng and like many Khmers before her, she had no idea it even existed, let alone what took place there.

A glum-looking Ameas and myself at Meta House (from the PPP)

A much happier pose at Tuol Sleng; same people as above!