Birthday Buildings in 2017

When we first looked at the Birthday Buildings for 2013, I was pleasantly surprised to find buildings still standing in Hong Kong that were 50-, 75-, 100-, 125-, and even 150-years old. Let's see how 2017 compares...

 

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50-year-old buildings:

The biggest on the list is the Wah Fu Estate, a public housing estate on the south of Hong Kong island. Here are some photos of it under construction:

 

 

1967 was the year that the first residents could move in to the estate, but as the photos show, construction continued after that. The final block wasn't completed until 1978.

At that time the government was building and managing three very different types of housing: The first tier were the resettlement estates, offering simple accommodation to Hong Kong's neediest residents. They were typically people who'd previously lived in one of Hong Kong's squatter areas. Next came the low-cost housing estates, intended for those who had a family income of under HK$500 a month. Finally there were the Hong Kong Housing Authority estates like Wah Fu, aimed at those with family incomes in the range HK$400-900 a month.

I don't have the figures for 1967, but the 1968 Annual Report records 1 million people lived in resettlement estates, just over a quarter of Hong Kong's population at the time. Add in the low-cost housing and Housing Authority estates, and a total of 1.45 million people, or about 38% of Hong Kong's population, were living in government housing.

Back in the 1960s and 70s, the buildings and facilities at Wah Fu were top-of-the-range as far as government housing went. But fifty years on, tenants' expectations have risen and the buildings are showing their age. In 2014 it was announced that the Wah Fu estate would be cleared and re-developed. Allowing ten years to re-locate the current residents, the re-development is scheduled to start in 2024.

 

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75-year-old buildings:

 

 

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100-year-old buildings

Gwulo doesn't a record have any buildings that were finished in either 1942 or 1917, and are still standing today. If you know of any we're missing, please let us know in the comments below. [UPDATE 22 May 2017: Thanks to Jenna for the tip that several buildings around the Tai Tam & Tai Tam Tuk reservoirs were finished in 1917.]

 

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125-year-old buildings

The postbox on the Peak is a borderline case, as though there has been a postbox there since 1892, it has been replaced at least once over the years. Here's a c.1900 photo of the first postbox at that site (it's down in the bottom-left corner):

And here's the current version:

There was a time in 2015 when it seemed the postbox was going to be covered up because of its "inappropriate" royal ciphers. Thankfully that plan appears to have quietly been dropped. In the meantime a small sign has appeared next to the postbox:

It reads:

Colonial post boxes are among the "historical street relics" of Hong Kong. They not only witnessed the developments of the colonial period but are also a part of the collective memory of Hong Kong residents. [...] There is a need for a conservation policy to be established before these relics disappear.

Very true!

 

The Gap Rock Lighthouse is another borderline case.

 

Although it was built by Hong Kong, and manned by lighthouse keepers from Hong Kong until 1941, it lies outside of Hong Kong's waters.

 

There's nothing borderline about the last one: the Dairy Farm Building is definitely within Hong Kong, standing at the top of Wyndham Street. Though it does show a "1913" date, which can be a bit confusing.

That's the year the building was extended (well, one of the years, as it was extended several times), but the original core was built in 1892.

 

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150-year-old buildings

Nothing for 1867 either. So 2017 isn't such a good year for the birthday buildings  - all the more reason to hold on to our remaining old postboxes!

 

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Find out more

If you'd like to see what information and photos we have for any of the buildings shown above, just click on the blue building name in the list. You can also click on any photo to see a larger version you can zoom in to.

And of course if you can add any memories, facts or photos, they'll be very welcome. Please click to leave a comment, or upload a photo.

Finally, you can also see the birthday buildings from 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016.

Regards, David

Also on Gwulo.com this week... New posts, pictures & comments: Photos of the Fortress Observation Post on Tung Lung island First view of the Sunderland Road RAF Married Quarters in Kowloon Tong "Views of Hongkong", a book of photos published by R C Hurley in 1902. George Edgar Skynner UPSDELL [c.1887-????], school principal at CBS / KGV. New research dates the cemetery gate on Stubbs Road to 1922 or later. Readers' questions: 1850s or 1860s - when was this photo taken? Does anyone remember an old six-sided well house at Stanley in the grounds of St. Stephens' College? It was demolished in the mid-1970s.