I've just finished adding this 1956 map of Kowloon to our collection. (Show me) <= Click the 'Show me' to update the map, and show the 1956 overlay...
What does it show us about Kowloon in the 1950s?
It's been three years since the big fire at Shek Kip Mei [1], and the move from squatter villages to government housing is in full swing. The first move was to resettlement areas with single-storey "cottages", eg at Ho Man Tin and King's Park (Show me). But by 1956 the government was building newer H-shaped public housing blocks [2]. We can see several at Shek Kip Mei (Show me).
Another big development project is underway at Kai Tak airport [3]. The main map still shows it with the two short, crossed runways (Show me), but in 1956 they were already building the new runway, extending out into the harbour. An inset shows how the airport will look once the new runway is finished (Show me).
The harbour was quite a different place - bigger for starters. Compare the old shoreline of Yau Ma tei (Show me) with today's (Show me) to see how much reclamation there has been. But down in TST the shore is just where it was in 1956, and even three of the five piers from 1956 are still roughly the same size and location today (Show me).
Docks and shipyards are still to be seen around the Kowloon coastline, at Tai Kok Tsui [4] (Show me) and Hung Hom [5] (Show me). And the water was still considered clean enough to swim in, as there's also a bathing beach at Hung Hom (Show me).
I hope you enjoy the map, and that it brings back happy memories if you were in Hong Kong in the 1950s.
If you'd like to get the most from these maps, please watch the short video tutorial. And if you spot anything interesting on the map, please let us know in the comments below.
Finally, many thanks to Andrew Suddaby who supplied the original scanned copy of this map. Unfortunately, he cannot now recall which of his friends in the 367 Association lent the original to him for copying and he apologises to whoever that was for not acknowledging the loan.
Regards,
David
Trivia:
Turning to the map itself, it was drawn at two different scales. The whole peninsula is shown at less detail, then boxes around it show certain built-up areas in more detail. I've cut those more detailed sections from the edges of the map and pasted them onto the main map. You can see the change at Austin Road (Show me). The northern section is what the map of the whole peninsula looked like, then to the south I've pasted in the more detailed drawing of TST.
The tedious part of making the digital overlay is aligning it with the modern map. The 1956 map is roughly accurate, but some places vary considerably from the actual layout on the ground. The worst areas are at the edges of the map, especially around Lai Chi Kok (Show me). See how the old map has to be warped to fit? I guess that the edges of the map were the newly developed areas, and so the least accurately drawn. They're also difficult to align because the area has been so heavily re-developed that the old roads and streams on the 1956 map are no longer visible.
Also on Gwulo.com this week:
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References:
- Shek Kip Mei fire: http://gwulo.com/node/5846
- Resettlement blocks: http://gwulo.com/atom/19434
- Development of Kai Tak airport: http://gwulo.com/kai-tak-airport-history
- Cosmopolitan Docks: http://gwulo.com/cosmopolitan-docks
- Hong Kong, Kowloon & Whampoa Dockyards: http://gwulo.com/node/6667
