Walk along Neil Road today and you might be distracted by its colourful shophouses, handsome old terraces, restaurants and cafés.
But more than 170 years ago, things looked very different.
There were no trendy cafés and certainly no one taking Instagram photos outside pastel-coloured shophouses. Much of the surrounding Duxton Hill area was covered with nutmeg plantations until the 1850s. Neil Road itself began as a simple track leading towards Keppel Harbour, known as Salat, Silat or Selat Road. The name came from the Malay word selat, meaning “strait”.
Then, in 1858, the colonial authorities renamed it Neil Road, after Brigadier-General James Neill, a British military officer who died during the Indian Rebellion of 1857. Interestingly, Neill’s surname actually had two Ls, while Singapore’s Neil Road ended up with just one.
As Singapore’s population grew during the second half of the 19th century, the plantations were broken up and sold as building plots. Shophouses and terrace houses began appearing, gradually transforming what had been plantation land into a busy neighbourhood.
And who lived here?
Quite a mixture.
As nearby Telok Ayer became increasingly crowded, wealthier merchants and families moved towards Neil Road in search of more comfortable surroundings. By the early 20th century, the area was particularly associated with wealthy Chinese and Peranakan families, who built beautifully decorated homes combining Chinese, Malay and European influences.
But Neil Road wasn’t only for the wealthy. Working-class communities connected to the port, railway, police and military facilities, and nearby hospital also lived around the district. Schools, churches and other community institutions followed.
Perhaps the most surprising chapter came much later.
The Rickshaw Era
At one end of Neil Road stands one of the area’s most recognisable historic buildings.
The Jinrikisha Station at 1 Neil Road was built in 1903 by the Municipal Council.
Rickshaws had arrived in Singapore during the late 19th century and became an important means of getting around the rapidly expanding town.
In 1987, No. 9 Neil Road became part of a pioneering government restoration project demonstrating that Singapore’s ageing shophouses could be saved rather than demolished. That experiment helped pave the way for Singapore’s wider conservation movement.
So the next time you walk down Neil Road, look beyond the restaurants and colourful façades.
You’re actually walking through a street that evolved from nutmeg plantation to harbour track, immigrant neighbourhood, wealthy residential enclave and finally one of Singapore’s most beautiful conserved heritage areas.
Not bad for one road.
