Historical Events in Palampur

Palampur is a beautiful hill station and it has earned itself the rare distinction of being called the “tea Capital” of Northern India, as the inception of the tea gardens had been laid in the erstwhile era of the British dominion. The history of Palampur is interesting due to the invasion of various kingdoms that had once ruled the land of Palampur. Each of the rulers has left their own mark on the history of this place that makes this place more intriguing and attractive for the visitors and tourists.

Important Events in the History of Palampur

There are a few historical events that hold a stature of importance in the history of Palampur as they have made a strong impact on this place in the formative years of Palampur. It is the affect of those events that we see the Palampur as a developed and as a wholesome place that has many assets like the tea gardens, pine forests, historical monuments, a number of temples, monasteries etc.

Let’s now talk about a few of the events from the history in the chronological order of their occurrence in the historical era.

In 1849 the first tea bush from Almora was introduced by the Superintendent of Botanical Gardens named Dr. Johson, and it sustained successfully due to which the town of Palampur came into being.

It was in 1888 that Palampur was made the headquarters of the Tehsil after shifting the same from Bhawarna.



In 1905, the region of Palampur was hit by a severe earthquake due to which many buildings and houses were destroyed. Therefore, the buildings of Palampur underwent a lot of changes in terms of the projections of the building, the material used for construction and the overall building style etc.



It was in 1923 that the tea estate owners influenced the administration to set up educational institutions like St. Paul’s schools and colleges. The administration also had set up a hospital around the same time.

In 1927 a railway line for the hydro-electric project was laid down in Joginder Nagar, Palampur. This led to a lot of infrastructure growth in terms of construction of railway station, staff quarters etc. and it also led to generation of a number of employment opportunities for the locals.



It was post 1927 that the work of construction of roads began in Palampur and caught up speed in early 1930’s that led to construction of roads and other development works in Palampur.



In 1941, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru visited Palampur and the event was commemorated with the construction of Nehru Chowk.

There were several strategic developments that took place after 1946. The town of Palampur started developing its linkages with other nearby regions and a military station was put up in Hotla, which is a very important place in the town of Palampur.

Other various places of importance that was constructed after and during the year of 1946 are, the Indian Council for Scientific & Industrial Research, Agriculture University, Institute of Himalyan Bioresource Technology etc. Even different government bodies like Public Works Department, Public Health Department, Housing Board, the Electricity Board etc. got established.



In 1947 a famous painter named Sobha Singh set up an art gallery in the village of Andretta after moving in from Punjab. This art gallery is famous tourist attraction of Palampur even today and the paintings garner a lot of interest from the visitors as they are some famous art pieces that depict the Paunjabi culture and other historical events.



Therefore, there are a number of historical events that have immensely contributed to the current social and economic structure of Palampur.