York Road (Jalan York), George Town

York Road, Penang (28 February 2013)

York Road is a road in the outer suburb of George Town. It connects Scotland Road to Dato Kramat Road. As with Scotland Road, it was named after a place in Great Britain. A side road, Ross Road, links York Road to Western Road (Jalan Utama).

York Road has existed under its present name since the turn of the 20th century, though it was known as St Andrews Road as early as 1804. The area close to Dato Kramat Road has been settled since the earliest part of Penang's history. Today this area still holds remnants of the Indian settlement, with Indians living in this area running laundry businesses along the banks of Sungai Air Terjun and Sungai Air Itam. As such, the area is also called Dhoby Ghaut, after the steps leading down to the river bank.

The western end of York Road is today a leafy, upscale neighbourhood. Most of the properties here were only built at the end of the 1960s and 70s. This area, contiguous with Batu Gantong, was rural and stood as plantation land until these recent times.

To encourage the population to move out from the already congested inner city, the Governor's Mansion was built in front of Polo Ground