Orchard Road got its name from the nutmeg, pepper and fruit orchards that used to lie on either side of the street in the 1840s. Commercial development only began in the twentieth century, and took off in the 1970s. In the 1830s the Orchard Road area was the scene of gambier and pepper plantations. Later, nutmeg plantations and fruit orchards predominated, hence its name.
By 1846, the spread of houses had reached up to Tank Road. There were none on the left side and only three or four houses went past Tank Road on the right side of Orchard Road.
By 1846, the spread of houses had reached up to Tank Road. There were none on the left side and only three or four houses went past Tank Road on the right side of Orchard Road.
One major sight during this period was a Mr Orchard tending his garden, which helped endorse the road's name. He had a garden and plantation at the corner of what is now Scotts Riad and Orchard Road.
Towards the later part of the 1840s, graveyards began to appear along the road. By 1846, the Chinese had a large graveyard around what is now the Meritus Mandarin Hotel and Ngee Ann City, while the Sumatrans from Bencoolen had their burial ground where the current Grand Central Hotel stands. Later a Jweish cemetery was established; it was located where Dhoby Ghaut MRT Station is now situated, and demolished in 1984.
In the 1860s, Orchard Road had a great number of pruivate houses and bungalows on hills looking down through the valley where the road passed through. Early in the 1890s, His Majesty Sondetch Phra Paramindr Maha Chulalongkorn, the supreme King of Siam, acquired "Hurricane House" in the vicinity of Orchard Road through Tan Kim Ching, the Thai Consul in Singapore.
Two further pieces of adjoining property were added later and these subsequently became the site of the present Royal Thai Embassy at 370 Orchard Road.
In the early 20th century, it was noted that Orchard Road "presented the appearance of a well-shaded avenue to English mansions", comparable in its "quiet but effective beauty to Devonshire lanes." The Chinese called the area tang leng pa sat koi or "Tanglin market street". The Tamils refer to the road as vaira kimadam or "fakir's place", and "muttu than" (high ground), a reference to the hilly nature of the area.
Notable past and present landmarks
Perhaps the most elegant building on Orchard Road is the Istana, at its southern end. Nibong palms survive near its entrance, with a plague that reads: "As the nibong is a mangrove palm, this site must have once been a mangrove swamp." If this information is accurate, then Orchard Road was once a muddy swamp and these palms are remnants of that original habitat.
On the northern side of Orchard Road is the Botanic Gardens. Along Scotts Road is Goodwood Park Hotel, a fine example of colonial architecture and a monument. At the junction of Scotts Road and Orchard Road is TANGS, the first upmarket department store in Singapore.
About halfway down Orchard Road are Cairnhill and Emerald Hill, where the rich Chinese built their residences, now prime properties sought after by affluent professionals and expatriates. Next to Emerald Hill is Centrepoint, which houses the supermarket Cold Storage, possibly the oldest surviving business establishment in the area. Other establishments have not been so fortunate. Amber Mansions, one of the earliest apartment blocks in Singapore, built around the turn of the 20th century, was torn down in the 1980s to make way for the Dhoby Ghaut MRT Station.
Occupying the site of the former Pavilion Cinema, Specialist' Shopping Centre was one of the earliest redevelopment projects on Orchard Road. The shopping centre had been demolished to make way for a new development. Its flagship store was John Little, which has been trading in Singapore since the mid-19th century, when it opened its first outlet in Commercial Square (now Raffles Place).
interesting but not the question i wanted
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