Walking this district, every building seems to carry two nameplates: the name it has now, and the name it had first.
Banks that became museums
The clearest example is a pair of banks. The former Incheon branch of the First Bank of Japan now serves as the Open Port Museum, and the former 18th Bank of Japan branch as the Modern Architecture Exhibition Hall Fact. That banks arrived early in a treaty port tells you the character of the district — trade and capital came in along the harbour Estimate.
An office from 1888
There is an older layer too. The former Nippon Yusen Kaisha Incheon branch, built in 1888, counts among the oldest modern buildings here and began as a shipping company office Fact. It now serves as archive space for the Incheon Art Platform (Ep.8), previewing the path this district specialises in: warehouses and offices becoming art spaces Estimate.
Red brick and an arch
Not everything is commercial. Dapdong Cathedral is a brick church built in 1897 by Father Hong Joseph, on a cruciform plan, using red brick as the main material with granite worked decoratively at key points Fact. Among civil structures there is Hongyemun — the rainbow-shaped gate — built in 1908 to cut from Jemulpo harbour toward Chukhyeon Station, today’s Dongincheon Fact. It is a passage bored through a hill that stood in the city’s way Estimate.
The reading trick
The practical trick is simple: do not read only the current sign, but the original use on the information board beside it Estimate. Banks becoming museums and a shipping office becoming an archive is the grammar of this district, and the present-day question of Ep.9 is finally about what fills the next layer.