Hung Hom Police Station (1st generation) [1872-c.1950]

Submitted by Klaus on Wed, 02/12/2020 - 23:59
Current condition
Demolished / No longer exists
Date completed
(Day is approximate.)
Date closed / demolished
(Day, Month, & Year are approximate.)

Hung Hom Police Station near todays Station Lane (sic). Opened in the mid-1870's. Can easily be seen on the 1896 map.

Update 2022-01-06 (see comments below)

Demolished in the early 1950's when this area was developed for housing estates. A new police station opened in 1950.

Source: The Hong Kong Police; Police History: Chapter 1 History – The First Century

Photos that show this Place

Comments

GOVERNMENT NOTIFICATION.

Tenders will he received at this Office, till Noon of Monday the 16th instant, for the erection of a Police Guard House at Hung Ham(!), Kowloon.

The Plan and Specification can be seen, and further information obtained, on application at the Surveyor General's Office.

A Proper form of Tender must be applied for at this Office. The Government does not bind itself to accept the lowest or any Tender.

By Command, CECIL C. SMITH, Acting Colonial Secretary.

Colonial Secretary's Office, Hongkong, 7th September, 1872.

source

Government started to remove the Kun Yam hill at that site of Ka Wai Chuen as early as 1954. The Hunghom chuen was built there from 1955 to 1958. It was demolished around 1990s to make way for Ka Wai chuen. The police station moved to the Chatham-Hok Yuen junction earlier in 1950.

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Red dot is the location of the old police station near station lane on a 1950 map not long before moving:

1950 hunghum map.png
1950 hunghum map.png, by simtang

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A 1949 aereal view of hunghom shows that corner at the intersection of Ma Tau Wai rd and station lane.

A lot of squatter huts up Kun Yam hill. One can see some small buildings downhill at that corner. But it is not clear which one is the police station.

1949 aereal view of hunghom.jpg
1949 aereal view of hunghom.jpg, by simtang

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Kun Yam hill at Ma Tau Wai-station lane junction demolished 1954. Hunghom Chuen built here in 1955-1958.

It is even possible one of the small houses around the corner on the left side of Ma Tau Wai rd was the "police guard house" in your description.

More information about hunghom chuen can be found here:

https://www.hkhs.com/tc/housing_archive/id/14/scheme/4

1954 station lane.png
1954 station lane.png, by simtang

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Air view in 1968 clearly shows Hunghom Chuen at that site:

永樂戲院 photo.png
永樂戲院 photo.png, by simtang

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News report on 1949-8-1 that a new police station and police staff quarters to be built at Chatham-Hok Yuen junction. It said it would take 9 months. That means it was opened around  May 1950.

1949-08-01 new police station to be built on chathom rd.png
1949-08-01 new police station to be built on chathom rd.png, by simtang

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1964 picture of the new fat kwong flyover over chatham road north. First building behind it on the right was the police station built in 1949

1964年10月佛光街天橋.jpg
1964年10月佛光街天橋.jpg, by simtang

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red circle indicates location of new police station which was opened in 1950 on a 1967 map:

1967 hunghom map.jpg
1967 hunghom map.jpg, by simtang

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As indicated from the 1920 and 1935 maps, the police station was situated on a ridge of Kun Yam Hill and above Taku Street. I think that the police station (inside the red circle) can be seen on this 1920s photo of Whampoa Dockyards. 

Hung Hom Police Station 1920
Hung Hom Police Station 1920, by Klaus

Also like to take a wild guess about this 1956 photo of the squatter huts on Kun Yam hill near ma tau wai rd. The white building on the right had a rectangular shape. So was the one on the left. They were perpendicular to one another. With the latter one being higher up the hill. It is consistent with the 1935 map regarding their shapes and orientations. They don't look like squatter huts. So it may be reasonable to assume the one on the left is the police station.

1956-9 squatter huts ma tau wai.png
1956-9 squatter huts ma tau wai.png, by simtang

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Hi simtang, this is a very interesting photo. If this is from the mid-1950s, it probably does not show the police building from 1875. 

Hung Hom Police Station 1945_49
Hung Hom Police Station 1945_49, by hkms2.0

Two aerial photos from 1945 and 1949 show the area where the police building should be. On the 1945 photo two buildings can be seen (or actually guessed) in the right circle - this matches the location and the shape of the houses as seen on the 1935 map. On the 1949 photo, it looks as if the buildings were demolished between 1945 and 1949. Instead, cubical-shaped objects are at this place - these surely are the squatter huts that can be seen on your photo. So a clear photo of the police station is probably still to be found. 

We don't know when the police station was demolished. The Hunghom chuen was built in stages from 1955 to 1958. The 1956-9 picture shows clearly the Kun Yam hill was not completely removed with still a lot of squatter huts and buildings left.

 

1924 air view from HK map viewer shows clearly the Hung Hom police station (in yellow square). All the other buildings around it were not built yet. It can be compared with the 1935 map above. At the south-west corner of the station downhill was the first generation Hung Hom market on Wuhu street.

1924 air view hung hom police station
1924 air view hunh hom police station, by simtang

Fortunately, the Historical and Statistical Abstract of the Colony of Hong Kong 1841-1930, Third Edition published in 1932 does mention the Hung Hom Police Station was built in 1872.

Have not gone deep to confirm the opening date as online copies of the daily newspapers for the year 1872 are not complete. I would have thought 1873 would have been the likely completion date.