This was one of the two sections of the Hong Kong Island tramway that traveled along the waterfront in the western district of the island. (This is no longer true in the seventies when reclaiming Kennedy Town waterfront began) One section was in the Sheung Wan district near the Western Market and the other was this section that ran along the waterfront in the Kennedy Town district. Though it is a continuation of Des Voeux Road at the Belcher’s Cape, this section of the road is called Kennedy Town Praya and eventually it turns into Catchick Street. Also, this is one of the few roads in HK that is not called a “Road”, or a “Street” or a “Lane”. Instead, as I could remember, the road sign was just “Kennedy Town Praya”. Despite the rapid development in the western district of HK in the sixties and seventies, this part of the waterfront remained purely a shipping depot area. I still remember when I took a tram to Kennedy Town from Central, once the tram turned the corner at Belcher’s Cape, all of a sudden, all the foot traffic disappeared, and you hardly see anyone until the tram reached Catchick Street. This was how quiet this area was even back in the sixties. Starting in the mid-sixties, these depots were gradually torn down for the high rises and this section of Kenndy Town was quiet no more. The hillside in the background is Mount Davis.
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1. older photo before the piers n big trading houses built. 2. after the 1937 photo n the piers never replaced. ready for reclamation.
A quiet place in the busy Kennedy Town district
This was one of the two sections of the Hong Kong Island tramway that traveled along the waterfront in the western district of the island. (This is no longer true in the seventies when reclaiming Kennedy Town waterfront began) One section was in the Sheung Wan district near the Western Market and the other was this section that ran along the waterfront in the Kennedy Town district. Though it is a continuation of Des Voeux Road at the Belcher’s Cape, this section of the road is called Kennedy Town Praya and eventually it turns into Catchick Street. Also, this is one of the few roads in HK that is not called a “Road”, or a “Street” or a “Lane”. Instead, as I could remember, the road sign was just “Kennedy Town Praya”. Despite the rapid development in the western district of HK in the sixties and seventies, this part of the waterfront remained purely a shipping depot area. I still remember when I took a tram to Kennedy Town from Central, once the tram turned the corner at Belcher’s Cape, all of a sudden, all the foot traffic disappeared, and you hardly see anyone until the tram reached Catchick Street. This was how quiet this area was even back in the sixties. Starting in the mid-sixties, these depots were gradually torn down for the high rises and this section of Kenndy Town was quiet no more. The hillside in the background is Mount Davis.