Jamshedpur: Iron city Jamshedpur’s rich heritage is its identity. This 104 year old city has many such heritages, which you will be stunned to see even today. Be it the city’s first hotel boulevard or the first church, St. Joseph’s Church. From Regal Building to XLRI and NML, from Tatanagar Station to TMH, all the buildings contain history in themselves. So let’s look at the history of this city today.
Jamshedpur’s first hotel is Boulevard. This hotel is located next to Bistupur police station, which was built in 1919 by Bartholomew D’Costa, an enterprising contractor from Goa. This hotel was built in six months in 1940 at a cost of Rs 45 thousand. During the Second World War, 28 British and American pilots stayed here for 18 months in this hotel.
Sir Dorabji Park is a symbol of a unique love story.
The statue of JN Tata’s son Sir Dorabji Tata and his wife Meherbai Tata is installed in this park in front of Keenan Stadium in Bistupur. Spread over about 2.5 acres, this park also has a huge diamond structure, which is a symbol of their unique love story.
St. George’s Church, the only Protestant church in the city
St. George’s Church is built in the memory of the soldiers martyred in the First World War. St. George’s Church is in Bistupur B Road. Its construction work was completed on April 16, 1916. It is the only Protestant church in the city where services are still held in English.
Indigenous cannon was deployed in the armory ground
The Armory Ground is situated opposite the Central Water Works of Bistupur. On September 15, 1941, the first battalion of Bihar Regiment was formed in Golmuri Line. This regiment was given the responsibility of protecting the Tata Steel Plant from possible attack by aircraft during the World War.
During the visit of the then Viceroy Lord Wavell to Jamshedpur, the indigenous cannon was displayed in the grounds of Northern Town. For this reason it is known as Armory Ground.
Mahatma Gandhi and Subhash Chandra Bose had a meeting in United Club.
Located opposite the Armory Ground in Bistupur is the United Club, which was established in the year 1914. At the time of establishment of the company, there used to be many foreign nationals here.
This club was earlier named TISCO Institute, which was changed to United Club in 1948. Mahatma Gandhi and Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose had held a mass meeting with the employees here during their stay in Jamshedpur.
Dorabji Tata used to stay in the directors bungalow
The Director’s Bungalow was built in 1918 in front of the United Club in Bistupur. This bungalow has been built in Indo-Saracenic style i.e. by combining the art of India and Arabia.
The directors of the company used to stay here when they came to the city. In the initial days, Sir Dorabji Tata used to come and stay here. Many big personalities including the first Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru have stayed here.
Bharucha Mansion was built for Parsi youth
Bharucha Mansion is just opposite Bistupur Police Station, which we also know as Regal Building. Khurshid Manekji Bharucha, the first Indian Chief Cashier of Tata Steel, built Bharucha Mansion in 1935 to provide a homely experience to the Parsi youth who came to work at Tata Steel.
The sound of the clock tower could be heard till the station
The clock tower is situated in the Golmuri Golf Ground grounds. This 70 feet high clock tower with four winding clocks was designed by the Anglo Swiss Watch Company. This clock tower was established on March 4, 1939 to commemorate the completion of 16 years of service of John Leshon, the first General Manager of the Tinplate Company of India. It is said that the sound of the bell of this clock could be heard till the station and the sonar.
ISWP bunker was built to protect against attacks during the Second World War
Indian Steel and Wire Products Limited (ISWP) was founded by Sardar Bahadur Inder Singh in 1920. At that time the company was spread over 300 acres. There is a huge bunker right in front of this company. Which was built during the Second World War. During the Second World War, sirens used to sound in the entire city on the news of the arrival of ships of enemy countries.
Before Tata Motors, there was a Pennsylvania company here, which used to make road rollers.
Tata Motors may be the first mother plant of the company, but in 1930, there used to be a Pennsylvania company, which manufactured road rollers but the company went into loss. JRD Tata and Sumant Mulgaonkar met the owner of the company in Germany and bought it.
Country’s first football nursery Tata Football Academy
36 years ago, Tata Steel had established the country’s first football academy in the city. Tata Football Academy was formed in 1987. Since then, this academy has given more than 200 international footballers to the country.
Be it Mobasir Rahman, associated with Jamshedpur FC, or Subroto Pal, known as the Spiderman of Indian football, all took training from Tata Football Academy.
