Home › Ho Chi Minh City › 1866
EU: Saigon, Cochin China [Vietnam]. Photograph by John Thomson, (1866), Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, 1866

EU: Saigon, Cochin China [Vietnam]. Photograph by John Thomson, (1866)

1866 Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Scottish photographer John Thomson captured this view of Saigon in 1866, during his extensive travels documenting Cochinchina and the wider Far East. The city had recently become the administrative capital of French Cochinchina following France's conquest of southern Vietnam. The original glass-plate image is now preserved in the Wellcome Collection archive.

See this spot on the map
Have an old photo of Ho Chi Minh City? A family album, a postcard, a print from the attic. Pin it to the map and it becomes part of the record.
Add your photo

Rex Hotel through time — all 130 photos taken here (1866–2025) →

More from Ho Chi Minh City

View of Saigon, Ho Chi Minh City, 1866
View of Saigon 1866
EU: Saigon, Cochin China. Photograph by John Thomson (1866)a, Ho Chi Minh City, 1866
EU: Saigon, Cochin China. Photograph by John Thomson (1866)a 1866
EU: North Saigon on river Mekong, Ho Chi Minh City, 1866
EU: North Saigon on river Mekong 1866
EU: Saigon, Cochin China [Vietnam]. Photograph by John Thomson, (L0055789), Ho Chi Minh City, 1866
EU: Saigon, Cochin China [Vietnam]. Photograph by John Thomson, (L0055789) 1866
EU: Saigon, Cochin China, Vietnam. Photograph by John Thomson, [L0055789], Ho Chi Minh City, 1866
EU: Saigon, Cochin China, Vietnam. Photograph by John Thomson, [L0055789] 1866
EU: Saigon, Cochin China [Vietnam]. Photograph by John Thomson, [L0055789], Ho Chi Minh City, 1866
EU: Saigon, Cochin China [Vietnam]. Photograph by John Thomson, [L0055789] 1866
EU: Saigon, Cochin China Vietnam. Photograph by John Thomson (L0055789) (1866), Ho Chi Minh City, 1866
EU: Saigon, Cochin China Vietnam. Photograph by John Thomson (L0055789) (1866) 1866
EU: Saigon, Cochin China [Vietnam] - tree-lined street, John Thomson, neg. 1085 (1866), Ho Chi Minh City, 1866
EU: Saigon, Cochin China [Vietnam] - tree-lined street, John Thomson, neg. 1085 (1866) 1866