Central and Western District - History

History

Central District, as Victoria City, was the first area of planned urban development in Hong Kong during the colonial era. The British held a land sale in June 1841, 6 months after the flag was raised at Possession Point. 51 lots of land were sold to 23 merchant houses to build offices and warehouses. Some of the property buyers included Dent's, Jardine's, Russell's and Olyphant's. At the time, the 2 roads Albany Nullah (now Garden Road) and Glenealy Nullah (now Glenealy) were mainly reserved for British use. The streets later became known as Government Hill.

In 1857, the British government expanded Victoria City and divided it into seven districts. The ones located in present-day Central and Western are: Sai Ying Pun, Sheung Wan, Tai Ping Shan, Central. The area was essentially a European area until 1860 when Chinese merchants begin buying up European properties around Cochrane, Wellington and Pottinger Streets. The Central district was the principal European business district, hence the arrival of the first large scale bank HSBC. The Western district was the commercial centre for Chinese businesses. When the value of the district raised, a meeting was held in February 1866 to establish a "District Watch Force" to police and protect this specific area.

In 1880, Shek Tong Tsui was established, followed by Kennedy Town in the 20th century. By the 1890s the majority of Hong Kong's population was concentrated in the district with about 200,000 residents, mostly in Victoria City.