Geumcheon & Guro · Places we remember
The neighborhood we remember
The road the bus took. The alley that led home. Places so ordinary we never expected to see them in an archive. Follow a hundred photographs back toward the neighborhood you remember.
Step into the first alley1960s · A home at the end of the dirt road
Low eaves and paths beside the fields. These older views of the city hold traces of people making homes and building a neighborhood.
Neighbors by a tiled-roof house
People gather beneath a tiled roof. It is often the faces we met outside a house that we miss before the house itself.
A tree-lined road in Siheung
Homes follow a road lined with trees. The shade brings back the small pleasure of choosing the cooler side on a summer walk.
People on a country lane
Footsteps follow a narrow path beside the fields. Some roads felt familiar even when they took us the long way home.
Low rooftops and an unpaved road
An unpaved road opens between low roofs. A neighborhood can grow taller while the feeling of finding our way home stays with us.
A factory gate and chimneys
Chimneys rise beyond the factory gate. Thinking of the many working days that passed through it changes how we see the scene.
A lane between new houses
The lane between the houses is still bare earth. Perhaps the hope of calling this place home arrived before the work was done.
Eaves in a row
Matching eaves stretch along the row. Houses may look alike, but the days lived behind their doors belong to different lives.
Temporary homes in Guro
Small temporary homes stand beside a narrow lane. A dwelling may be temporary; the life spent there is no less real.
Children among the houses of Siheung
Children gather below a hillside crowded with homes. How large must this little alley have seemed to them?
A widening road in Siheung
Shops and houses line a road being widened. Even as the route changed, the neighborhood still had another day to get through.
1970s · A neighborhood growing beside its workplaces
Factories rise, bridges span the water, and alleys are paved. Amid these large changes, everyday life continues.
Gathering outside Doksan market
People crowd the market entrance. It brings to mind holding an adult’s hand a little tighter on a busy shopping trip.
A bus approaching the underpass
An old bus heads toward the underpass. Sometimes the shape of a bus is enough to bring back a forgotten stop.
A street in the industrial district
People pass beneath the large signs. When we remember a neighborhood, familiar lettering can catch our eye before a building does.
A day in a Sindorim alley
Neighbors gather to mark the paving of an alley. A path walked every day could be a whole neighborhood’s big occasion.
Homes below the hills of Gocheok
The hillside sits close behind the houses. A mountain once taken for granted can become the landmark that helps us recognize a lost streetscape.
Gocheok Bridge and the river
The bridge reaches across the water. Making the other side a little closer can matter deeply in an ordinary day.
The industrial district from above
From above, the factories look like orderly blocks. At ground level, each block held people working through a day.
Before Cheolsan Bridge
Construction equipment stands by the river. The familiar crossing came after this moment, when the bridge was still taking shape.
A village beside the embankment
Homes appear beyond the embankment works. Small at this distance, each was still somewhere someone needed to return to.
A courtyard in Siheung
People fill the welfare center’s courtyard. Looking closely at the colors of their clothes feels like opening an old group photograph.
1980s · Sharing the same streets
Children outside a nursery. Neighbors clearing a flooded road. Between the buildings, people give the neighborhood its warmth.
The new district office entrance
A banner marks the opening of the new office. Every building we now call old once had its very first day.
Gathering by the dormitory
A crowd gathers outside the dormitory. Imagine the windows lighting up, and a large building becomes a collection of small, everyday lives.
Windows on a hillside
Windows line a building backed by a hill. What did the view look like to someone returning at the end of the day?
Children outside the nursery
Children stand outside the nursery. It was not only we who were small; the world we knew was small too.
Children on an industrial district corner
Children linger by the corner of a large building. A route to work for adults might have been a place to play for them.
The old Guro Industrial Complex station
The platform carries the station’s former name. A new name does not erase the hours once spent waiting there.
A nursery doorway in Hang-dong
The nursery’s name is written above its glass door. Some may remember the feeling of letting go of a small hand at a doorway like this.
A neighborhood reading room
The reading room’s windows stand quietly. Perhaps a late evening spent turning pages is still waiting in a building you remember.
Sweeping a street after the flood
People sweep a street after the flood. Making a neighborhood passable again began with work like this.
Cleaning an alley after the flood
The photograph holds the work of clearing mud from an alley. It cannot hold all the exhaustion of that day.
Working together to clear the road
Shovels and carts are out on the street. There was much to do before this could become an ordinary road again.
Homes damaged by flooding
Damaged homes remain in the photograph. Remembering a place also means making room for the difficult time people endured there.
Neighbors outside a local shop
People gather beneath a shop sign during difficult days. The closeness between them draws the eye more than the buildings do.
Neighbors helping flood survivors
Helping hands work beneath the awnings outside. The scene reminds us that a neighborhood means more than its buildings.
A gathering with the village behind
Homes spread out behind the gathering. Years later, the houses once in the background can seem like the heart of the photograph.
Children beside a mound of earth
Children inspect a mound of earth beside the adults’ gathering. We too once had small worlds more interesting than grown-up occasions.
Seobu Expressway at its opening
A banner marks the road’s opening. Even a route traveled countless times had a day when someone used it for the first time.
Flowers beside the new road
Flowers line the new road. Small patches of color seen through a window can stay with us for a surprisingly long time.
A meeting on a Guro street
Shop signs overlap behind the crowd. Even without recognizing a face, someone may recognize that lettering, that building.
The district hall and its plaza
People gather in the plaza outside the district hall. Some buildings let many people pass the same entrance and carry away entirely different memories.
1990s · That bus, that sign, that road
Recognizable cars and shop names begin to appear. It is often the smallest details that make us feel how much time has passed.
Gyeongin-ro by Oryu-dong station
Traffic follows the road below. Seeing a familiar route from higher up can reveal the size of a neighborhood we had forgotten.
Low houses in Gocheok
Low houses gather beyond the bend. Here is the texture of a neighborhood that a tidy map can never quite capture.
The wide road near Oryu-dong
A broad road meets older buildings. The route feels familiar, but the cars and signs make us look twice at the year.
Traffic and signs on Gyeongin-ro
Cars and signs fill the road into the distance. Among vehicles rarely seen now, the old street seems to start moving again.
Gocheok rooftops and distant hills
Apartment blocks and hills rise behind low rooftops. Different paces of change share a single view.
Shops along Nambusunhwan-ro
Shops line the main road. A sign once read from a bus window and long forgotten may suddenly feel like an old acquaintance.
Cars outside the tool market
Familiar-shaped cars stand outside the tool market. For some, it may be a car rather than a shop that unlocks the memory.
A footbridge toward Sindorim
The footbridge railing casts long shadows. It brings back that brief pause for breath after climbing the steps.
An alley through the tool market
A small vehicle enters the lane between the shops. From afar it is a market; up close, it is the doorstep of many working lives.
Guro station and the department store
Buses line the station and department store. A scene like this can still hold the anticipation of setting out to meet someone.
Dorimcheon under the railway
The stream runs beneath the elevated railway. A route overhead and the water below meet in one quiet photograph.
The old Guro station junction
Old signs stand at the junction. Is there a name you once used when telling someone where to meet?
Old rooftops toward Sindorim
Newer buildings rise above the low roofs. Even within a changing street, the outlines of an older neighborhood remain.
An old city bus on Gyeongin-ro
An old city bus passes through the frame. Its windows and colors can bring back the feeling of stepping aboard and getting off.
Schools and houses in Guro 3-dong
Schools sit close to the houses. Seen as an adult, a school route that once felt so long can look surprisingly short.
Road and railway toward Sindorim
Road and railway stretch side by side. Now there is time to look at a view we may once have passed without noticing.
A motorcycle at the industrial junction
A motorcycle and trucks cross the industrial junction. Between the histories of large factories were countless small journeys like these.
Tracks beside the second industrial complex
Vehicles line up beside the tracks. Routes running in the same direction still carry people through very different days.
Factories by the old station
Traffic passes the factory buildings. To someone who remembers walking from the station to work, even a small corner may be familiar.
A factory yard
Vehicles stand scattered in a factory yard. The shape of a place where we spent our days may outlast the grand name of an industry.
Factory buildings seen from Guro
Factory roofs and yards come into view together. How many footsteps passed below this vantage point over the years?
The haetae at Seoul’s boundary
The haetae watches Siheung-daero at the city boundary. For some, its stone face may mark the memory of arriving in Seoul.
Trees along Siheung-daero
Cars pass the roadside trees. In a photograph, we can take our time with a road we once had to hurry along.
Traffic filling Siheung-daero
Traffic fills Siheung-daero. A road that once tested our patience can become a view we wish we could visit again.
A narrow residential alley
A thin lane runs between closely packed homes. Perhaps everyone has an alley whose turns the body remembers before the mind does.
Factories and apartments together
Apartment blocks rise beyond factory roofs. The neighborhood grew with places to work and places to live close together.
Electric meters on an outside wall
Electric meters line the wall. Their numbers sit in a row, but the rooms they served each held a different day.
Rooftops before redevelopment
Low roofs seem to lean together. At a distance they merge; to someone who lived here, each house would stand apart.
A pharmacy and neighborhood shops
Pharmacy and shop signs fill the alley. It recalls giving directions by the names of local stores rather than a street address.
Where Byeoksan apartments were rising
Apartments are taking shape on the hillside. Seeing the place before a familiar home existed reminds us that time began long before our own memories.
2000s · Life continues on changing streets
Old shops remain beside taller buildings. Even in photographs that seem like yesterday, the neighborhood is already changing.
Schools and homes in Gung-dong
Homes and shops surround the school. Years later, the view beyond the school gate becomes part of our schooldays too.
A school crossing in Gung-dong
The crossing stretches in front of the school. We may have crossed without a thought, yet the route stayed with us.
Goods outside the tool shops
Goods fill the shopfronts. Parts unfamiliar to one person could be the everyday language of another person’s working life.
A lane between low walls
A narrow passage remains between low walls. This is an entrance to everyday life hidden from the main road.
The working lanes of the tool market
The lane runs inward between facing shops. In some neighborhoods, looking for an item eventually teaches us every turn of the road.
Outside Doksan cattle market
Shops meet the road outside the market. The photograph is silent, but the word “market” can bring its own remembered sounds.
People working at the shopfronts
People work beside goods set out along the road. A street’s character lives in those who worked there as much as in its buildings.
Children playing in a Guro alley
Children gather in the middle of the alley. It recalls days that could pass entirely outside the front door, with no special destination needed.
Snow in a Gung-dong street
Snow rests on cars and trees. Overnight, an everyday street has become a place to discover all over again.
Rooftops in Gurobon-dong
Small objects sit on the rooftops. These homes carried everyday life all the way up to the roof.
Winding roads through Gocheok
A road winds between the houses. Knowing a shortcut could once be enough to make us feel we belonged to a neighborhood.
A green bus at Eunhaengnamu junction
A green bus passes the junction. The color still feels so familiar that it is surprising to realize how much time has passed.
Shops at the Siheung junction
Shops occupy the corners of the junction. A sign passed without a glance can become a cherished landmark after it is gone.
Siheung-daero by the military grounds
Traffic flows past the military grounds. Looking at this space before it changed helps us trace the neighborhood’s old boundaries.
Gasan’s fashion district
Large buildings and Mario Outlet fill the street. Memories of shopping here join older memories of an industrial neighborhood.
Snow along Dorimcheon
Apartment buildings rise behind the snowy stream. The photograph keeps a moment when winter quiet reached into the city.
Red brick in Gocheok
The red-brick church stands by the slope. Whatever our beliefs, some buildings become part of how we describe home.
The entrance to the second complex
The road opens beneath the industrial district’s large gateway. As the neighborhood’s face changed, the entrance kept welcoming another day’s arrivals.
Railway lines through Gasan
Taller buildings stand beside the tracks. Even as the neighborhood changes, the railway may still help us find our bearings.
A corner of the tool market
Goods reach right around the corner shop. After a long journey, a familiar storefront can be the thing that finally makes us feel home.
A dense quilt of Guro rooftops
Low roofs and tall apartments fill the frame. Among so many windows, we find ourselves searching for a home we once knew.
A necktie marathon in Guro
People in neckties run through the street. A route associated with work briefly becomes a place to run and smile.
Small businesses at Siheung market
Goods and a small handling vehicle stand outside the shops. Even a storefront easily passed by can carry years of work.
A motorcycle crossing Eunhaengnamu junction
A motorcycle crosses the familiar junction. A photograph can hold an ordinary passing moment longer than a grand occasion.
Walking outside Geumcheon district office
People walk outside the new district office. Beside a large new building, the neighborhood’s everyday life continues at walking pace.
A lane by the military apartments
A lane appears between the apartments and a low building. A wall, a tree, a corner: small arrangements are how we remember the streets near home.
The road outside Doksan market
People pass beneath the market sign. After counting what has changed, it can be comforting to find ordinary life still going on.
Late light over Siheung distribution market
The sun lowers over the rows of buildings. That day ended as ours do now; someone may have taken that road home.
Buildings and a delivery truck
A delivery truck stands outside the shops. It is a small scene in a history of big changes, yet scenes like it kept ordinary days running.
A lane between familiar buildings
The lane continues beyond the photograph. After a hundred pictures, we arrive at another road. Which way was the home you remember?
About these photographs
These 100 archival photographs come from Geumcheon and Guro District offices, the Seoul Museum of History, Seoul Archives, the National Archives of Korea, and Seoul Institute data services: 10 from the 1960s, 10 from the 1970s, 20 from the 1980s, 30 from the 1990s and 30 from the 2000s. The most recent photographs date to 2009.
The short texts are reflections prompted by the scenes. They are not quotations or reconstructed personal accounts from the people pictured.
Dates follow institutional records and original titles. A decade is shown when the exact year is unknown. Historical place names and district boundaries may differ from today. The exact camera locations of the two Seobu Expressway photographs are not recorded; their individual credits note this.
Colors and compositions are preserved in images prepared for the web. Some early photographs use the small public preview images available from their sources. Each photograph includes its source and reuse terms; some restrict commercial use or require further confirmation.