Commercial Area in Makassar, 1910

Photo: E. Becker/National Gallery of Australia

The photo above shows a commercial area around the port in Makassar circa 1910 by E. Becker which is conserved by the National Gallery of Australia.

In the photo, we can see several two-floor buildings that look like shop houses today with their respective business name signs. One of them read that it said Advocaat on it, probably the office of a law firm. The existence of a law firm shows that the society was advanced enough to require the services of a lawyer.

In front of the buildings, a canal was clearly concreted with stairs leading down to the water. This was exactly like the canals in Batavia, with which people can go down to the water to bathe and wash. But in this case the stairs seemed to go up and down the small boat. While the dock beside was for docking larger boats.