Old colonial buildings from the Dutch East Indies period can still be found lining the waterfront street of Batang Arau.

Located on the west coast of Sumatra, Padang evolved into a commercial and military city between the 18th and 19th centuries.

[2] In 1864, De Javasche Bank officially opened a branch office in Padang.

This was the third branch of de Javasche Bank in the Netherlands Indies after Semarang and Surabaya, and the first outside of Java.

[3] The presence of de Javashce Bank branch office in Padang was realized thanks to the request proposal of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Padang City to the Central Colonial Government and to the Director of De Javasche Bank in Batavia (now Jakarta).

The monument was dedicated to Willem Hendrik de Greve, a late 19th-century Dutch geologists who is known as the discoverer of the coal mine in Sawahlunto.