1850/60's Praya Reclamation - Buildings along the new shoreline

Submitted by Klaus on Mon, 04/16/2018 - 21:18

The extent of the 1850/60's Praya Reclamation is shown in https://gwulo.com/node/40695.

There it says:

During the early years of the Colonization of Hong Kong Island, the north shore was very narrow. The north coast included today’s Queen’s Road Central, which ran along the coast with piers and single-storey godowns lined along the waterfront. Since there were insufficient lands along the coast for further development to meet the increasing population on Hong Kong Island, reclamation was carried out from the west of Kennedy Town to the east of Wanchai.

The planning for reclamation along the north coast by Governor George Bonham started in the early 1850s. In 1859, reclamation along the coast of Sheung Wan was completed and Queen’s Road (Queen’s Road Central today) and Bonham Strand were formed.

It’s interesting to see what this new coastline looks like and which houses were built there. On Gwulo, a number of images are uploaded that show the new praya.

The general outline of this 1850/60's Praya Reclamation is shown in the map below:

The outline can be seen from this 1874 photo by Lai Afong.

Western 0333 View from the Peak 1874 Lettered.jpg
Western 0333 View from the Peak 1874 Lettered.jpg, by Lai Afong

This photo gives a good overview, but details are hard to see. So let’s have a closer look with other photos.

We start from west to east. Here is a detail of the 1866 map on Gwulo that illustrates the coastline on the following two photos. The map starts on the left with Hill or Whitty Street, and ends on the right with Central Street (although just outside the map).

Westend 1870
Westend 1870, by Herostratus
Hong Kong & China Gas Co., Shek Tong Tsui ,hill road, 1887
Hong Kong & China Gas Co., Shek Tong Tsui ,hill road, 1887, by leetanhui

Going east, the next map starts at about Sutherland Street and finishes with the start of Wing Lok Street.

1870's  Sheung Wan
1870's Sheung Wan, by eatsee14

Further east is the next map starting from Pedders Wharf and ending behind City Hall (first generation).

This photo shows the praya looking east.

The Praya
The Praya, by Admin

And the next two ones looking west.

1870 Praya Central (Des Voeux Road)
1860s Praya Central (Des Voeux Road), by moddsey
View of Praya
View of Praya, by hfsiu

And finally, a photo showing Dent & Co/Melchers Building at Pedder Street.

HOPIC 2 Fig 11.jpg
HOPIC 2 Fig 11.jpg, by William P. Floyd

Sure more photos exist showing the praya (after the 1850/60's Praya Reclamation and before the 1890s Central Reclamation) as well as its buildings. Any additions are welcome.