Western Road, George Town

Western Road Location Map

Photos of Western Road

Western Road (3 September 2008)
© Timothy Tye using this photo

Jalan Utama

Western Road, or Jalan Utama as it is called today, is a road within George Town. It was probably given the name Western Road because it was located at the western limit of George Town. Since then, part of it between the junction with Jalan Residensi, to the junction of Jalan Gottlieb, have become a major road. The section from Jalan Residensi to

Dato Kramat Road

is still a secondary road.

Western Road became the choice residence of the Europeans in George Town towards the turn of the 20th century, as they relocated from their residences along Northam Road - which was then being taken over by wealthy Chinese tycoons who were turning it into a millionnaire's row. Europeans made Western Road a road for, well, westerners. Many of them were Freemasons, and thus it was no strange coincidence that the Penang Masonic Temple was built along Western Road.

Overcrowding at the Protestant Cemetery along Northam Road also meant that the "newly departed" towards the end of the 19th century also had to be located out of Northam Road and into Western Road, resulting in the creation of the Western Road Cemetery.