In this photograph, the civic district on the north bank of the Singapore River is slowly taking shape. By the 1860s, the new Town Hall with its distinctive eclectic style stood in sharp contrast with the neoclassical simplicity of buildings nearby. The scaffolded incomplete building on the right of the Town Hall was to become the new Court House, while the old one was being converted into the Post Office. After completion in December 1867, the new building was used for a few years as a Court, before it was eventually occupied by various government departments.With no official name, the building was often referred to as Government or Public Offices, until it was named the Empress Place Building from 1907 in honour of Queen Victoria.
