Long before the Internet people sent greetings to their friends and families through letters and postcards.

The earliest photograph currently in the VOP archive was dated 1869 – these are wonderful images of life and architecture as the Straits Settlement of Penang grew over the years.

The original Visions of Penang online archive was a collection of historic survey maps of the Island and mainland of Pulau Pinang, Penang, or Prince of Wales Island, as it was once known.

Penang may not be well known in Malay manuscripts or as a place for its writing and production; nevertheless we cannot overlook its significance to the history of the state and its regions.

The ‘building plan’ category is new to Visions of Penang online archive and to date includes design proposal plans and schemes as well as building plans from the mid 1880s.