List of streets in George Town, Penang

The street names of George Town reflect the multicultural heritage of the city, the capital of the former British settlement of Penang, now part of Malaysia.

When Scott Road was renamed Jalan D S Ramanathan, after the first Mayor of the City of George Town, the new street signs were repeatedly defaced and had to be replaced several times, eventually forcing the city authorities to fix a replacement street sign fifteen feet up a lamppost (instead of at waist-height, as was then usual).

The oldest street signs in the centre of George Town are rectangular and made of painted metal plate (blue with white lettering), usually affixed to corner shop-houses at the top of the ground floor, and many can still be seen.

[1] DAP Socialist Youth National Organizing secretary Koay Teng Hai had also proposed to include Tamil and Jawi translations, depending on the cultural background of the area, along with Chinese street names.

[1] Despite opposition from Malay political parties and individuals at state and federal levels, the bilingual street signs with Chinese, Arabic and Tamil names were put up in November 2008.

The word "Ghaut" at the end of some street names reflects the fact that they are extensions of the original streets beyond the original waterfront at Beach St with the reclamation of the Ghauts and the construction of Weld Quay, ghat being a Hindi and Bengali word meaning a flight of steps leading down to a body of water.

Plan of Beach Street and side streets
Old colonial buildings in a street in George Town, Penang, opposite the entrance to the Leong San Tong Khoo Kongsi temple
Colonial-era street sign at Market Cross
National-language street sign at Armenian Street ( Lebuh Armenian )
New bilingual street sign at Victoria Street ( Lebuh Victoria )
New multilingual street sign at China Street Ghaut ( Gat Lebuh China )