In early 1898, Arthur Frederick Church, a 30-year old assistant railway engineer, was dispatched by George Whitehouse, Uganda Railways Chief Engineer, to prepare a town layout for a new railway depot at Enkare Naih’rrobai.
From the Railhead, Church planned two streets just wide enough for turning three-axled OX-cart transports.
He planned 10 avenues along which houses for subordinate-grade railway men would be sited. Along the rise which bordered the flat land, Church sketched in a half-dozen sites for upper-grade houses to be occupied by senior railway men with 13 commercial plots, which he called The European Bazaar and, away in the distance, he sited the Asian trading area now called Biashara Street.
On 30 November, 1898, his master plan for the layout of Enkare Naih’ rrobai was approved by George Whitehouse and dispatched to London
In May. 1899, the railway reached Enkare Naih’ rrobai. Ahead of the construction workers lay the mountains, and the knowledge that these too must be surmounted.So a halt was called which was to be an important decision in Kenya’s history.
Tents were put up and crude shacks knocked together on the plains. When the workers moved on, they left their abandoned shacks behind them which other travellers coming up from Mombasa used for want of better accommodation and added to them. Those that followed would start to build a city…
Nairobi Safari Excursions- The History of Nairobi
A little more than century ago, lion and rhino roamed freely where modern streets and buildings now provide a centre for the commerce and administration of Eastern Africa. A great city has arisen where once the explorers, the missionaries and administrators pitched their lonely camps.
During the Historical and Cultural tour you get to know more..
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