Tsim Sha Tsui Market [c.1911-c.1999]

Submitted by Klaus on Tue, 01/07/2020 - 23:55
Current condition
Demolished / No longer exists
Date completed
(Day, Month, & Year are approximate.)
Date closed / demolished
(Day, Month, & Year are approximate.)

Appears first as a red square on the 1904 map (on hkmaps.hk), is labelled "MARKET" on the 1910 map. Location is on Peking Road (former Chater Road) near the junction with Canton Road. 

HKGRO reports:

PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT. No. S. 144.—It is hereby notified that tenders be received at the Colonial Secretary's Office until Noon of Monday, the 15th August, 1910, for the erection of Shops, Stalls, &c., at the New Market, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon.  .....

So the market probably opened end of 1911. 

On the 1965 map it's still there and labelled "M".

Update 2020-01-08: The building stood there till the end of the 1990's (see here). Construction of "One Peking Road" started in 2000, so demolition date was assumed to be 1999. From the information found in the old Gevernment reports, the correct name of the market was not "Peking Road Market"(as used for this place so far)  but "Tsim Sha Tsui Market".

Update 2020-04-01 (from the comment below)

1978: The stalls inside and outside the market moved to the temporary market of Haiphong Road.

March 5, 1979: The market building was remodeled and used as the Tsim Sha Tsui Post Office.

1981: The market building was converted into a police recruiting center and later a shopping mall.

1999: Demolition of the market.

Photos that show this Place

Comments

Hi There,

I have a faint impression that the site was used by the Post office in the 1960's through early to mid1970's.  That was way before the Kowloon Park Drive was built.

T

There is certainly evidence that the market opened in 1911. The information in The Hong Kong Telegraph, 1911-08-24 refers to an enquiry about the delay in construction, not the opening of the market. The question was: "When will the market be ready for use?" The newspaper reports that the Colonial Secretary didn't have sufficient time to answer that question.

I found another piece of information about the construction here. A report from the Public Works Committee dated 24th January, 1912 (tries to) explain the delay being partly in the responsibility of the Public Works Committee and partly in responsibility of the contractor.

This implies that the market opened in late 1911, maybe October-December.

As Thomas mentioned, the 1979 Hong Kong Streets & Places map book has a Post Office symbol on the corner of Peking & Canton Roads - probably this building.

A 1990 map (Plate 4-11 in Mapping Hong Kong) has the building labelled "Royal Hong Kong Police Recruiting Centre Tsim Sha Tsui".

I wonder if the opening of the Haiphong Road Temporary Market in 1978 had any connection with this building ceasing to be used as a market?

Hi David, this could be. There is an article in the SCMP from 2015:

.....As for the Haiphong Road Temporary Market—it’s even less temporary than you might have thought. It was created in 1978 to house hawkers displaced by the redevelopment of Canton Road, making it the oldest temporary market in the city. .....

This could refer to the TST market.

Text on this photo on Flickr:

Year of construction: 1911
Location: 1 Peking Road, Tsim Sha Tsui
1908 Construction of the market begins.
1911 The market is completed.
In 1945, additional stalls were added to facilitate meals for Wharf workers.
In 1978, the stalls inside and outside the market moved to the temporary market of Haiphong Road.
On March 5, 1979, the market building was remodeled and used as the Tsim Sha Tsui Post Office.
In 1981, the Tsim Sha Tsui Post Office was relocated to Middle Road International Telecommunications Building. The market building was converted into a police recruiting center and later a shopping mall.
1997 Hong Kong Government Bidding Auction.
1999 Demolition of the market.
In 2003, No. 1 Beijing Road was completed.