When Nairobi City had 14,000 residents

Nairobi became a corporate council with corporate rights in 1919. Richard Woodley was the first city mayor that’s why Woodley estate is named after him.

Charles Rubia was the first African mayor of Nairobi city. He took over from Harold Travis in 1962 and served for five years.

Margaret Kenyatta was later elected as the first woman mayor of Nairobi in 1969.

 The word Nairobi originated from a small stream that bisected a swamp known by the maasai name “ Enkare Narobe”(a place of cool water)

The spelling “Nairobi” was adapted on October 1899 when the railway line reached Nairobi and Kenya railway Headquarters moved from Mombasa to Nairobi.

Nairobi was known as Mile 327 by railway construction workers who reached the city  in 1899, set up a basic camp and a supply depot on a brackish African swamp. They choose Nairobi for its proximity to rivers to supply their camps.

With an altitude of 1661 meters it meant lower temperatures. The camp beame a rustic village and thena shanty town. By 1905, Nairobi was already a humming commercial center and replaced Mombasa as the capital of British East African Protectorate.

Electricity did not reach Nairobi until 1908. It would become a city by a Royal Charter in March 1950. Chiromo house was built in 1904 by a British explorer Ewart Grogan(to whom grogan roa would be named after).

The name “Chiromo” was coined from native Mozambique term chiromo which means ‘ the joining of streams’

By 1906, Nairobi had about 14,000 residents. A voluntary fire brigade was setup in Nairobi in 1909.

Muthurwa estate in the city was built in 1939 by railway administration and nicknamed “Married Quarters” for African workers who were increasing in numbers. The first master plan for Nairobi was drawn in 1948.

-Compiled by Wesley Kipng'enoh