Blackhead Point (), also known as Tai Pau Mai () indigenously, or by the names Tsim Sha Tsui Point and Signal Hill (), was a

cape A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless outer garment which drapes the wearer's back, arms, and chest, and connects at the neck. History Capes were common in medieval Europe, especially when combined with a hood in the chaperon. Th ...

before any

land reclamation Land reclamation, usually known as reclamation, and also known as land fill (not to be confused with a waste landfill), is the process of creating new land from oceans, seas, riverbeds or lake beds. The land reclaimed is known as reclamati ...

took place in

Tsim Sha Tsui Tsim Sha Tsui, often abbreviated as TST, is an list of areas of Hong Kong, urban area in southern Kowloon, Hong Kong. The area is administratively part of the Yau Tsim Mong District. Tsim Sha Tsui East is a piece of land reclaimed from the Hu ...

Kowloon Kowloon () is an urban area in Hong Kong comprising the Kowloon Peninsula and New Kowloon. With a population of 2,019,533 and a population density of in 2006, it is the most populous area in Hong Kong, compared with Hong Kong Island and t ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

. It currently remains a small hill near the coast. Signal Hill is about high and measures approximately from east to west, and from north to south. It is the site of Signal Hill Garden and features the Signal Hill Tower as well as remains of military structures.

Etymology

Blackhead Point was named after a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

businessman in Hong Kong named Friedrich Johan Berthold Schwarzkopf, who naturalised as a British citizen and anglicised his name as 'Blackhead'. The name used by local residents for the Hill was Tai Pau Mai () because it was believed that the hill resembled a large bag of rice.

Signal Hill Tower

The Signal Hill Tower () was built in the

Edwardian The Edwardian era or Edwardian period of British history spanned the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910 and is sometimes extended to the start of the First World War. The death of Queen Victoria in January 1901 marked the end of the Victori ...

style in 1907 at the top of the hill. It was originally a three-storey building. The tower stood at 12.8 metres (42 feet) tall, with a red brick facade. Then, another storey was added to the structure in 1927 for clearer view of the tower from incoming vessels, this heightened it to 18.9 m (62 ft). The windows of the added storey features round windows whereas the original floors have square windows. Prior to the addition, the roof of the building was flat. A dome-shaped roof painted light green was built in replacement. There was a mast which used to contain the time ball atop the building. The purpose of the tower was to house a

time ball A time ball or timeball is a time-signalling device. It consists of a large, painted wooden or metal ball that is dropped at a predetermined time, principally to enable navigators aboard ships offshore to verify the setting of their marine chron ...

apparatus of the

Hong Kong Observatory The Hong Kong Observatory is a weather forecast agency of the government of Hong Kong. The Observatory forecasts the weather and issues warnings on weather-related hazards. It also monitors and makes assessments on radiation levels in Ho ...

previously located in the nearby

Marine Police Headquarters Compound The Former Marine Police Headquarters Compound, completed in 1884, is located in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong. From 1884 to 1996, the Compound served as the headquarters for the Marine Police, which moved to Sai Wan Ho in 1996 The compo ...

. The apparatus operated in the building from January 1908 to June 1933, dropping once daily from 1908 to 1920, and twice a day from 1920 to 1933. The dropping of the time ball ceased on 30 June 1933 as the building itself was in disrepair, short of staff, and the method used to check the

marine chronometer A marine chronometer is a precision timepiece that is carried on a ship and employed in the determination of the ship's position by celestial navigation. It is used to determine longitude by comparing Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), or in the modern ...

s had become obsolete, in comparison with radio-telegraphy and telephony. During World War II, Signal Hill Tower was used as a temporary ammunition store. The

Urban Council The Urban Council (UrbCo) was a municipal council in Hong Kong responsible for municipal services on Hong Kong Island and in Kowloon (including New Kowloon). These services were provided by the council's executive arm, the Urban Servic ...

restored the tower in the 1970s. The building was designated a Grade II historic building in 1981Brief Information on Proposed Grade I Items. Item #47
and was upgraded to a Grade I historic building on 18 December 2009. On 23 October 2015, the tower was also declared a monument.

Signal Hill Battery

Removed cannon in Signal Hill Garden 202007

Anti-aircraft guns may have been located at the south side of the hill. Later, four British 25-pound cannons used for ceremonial salute were located in concrete gun emplacements facing

Victoria Harbour Victoria Harbour is a natural landform harbour in Hong Kong separating Hong Kong Island in the south from the Kowloon Peninsula to the north. The harbour's deep, sheltered waters and strategic location on South China Sea were instrumental i ...

Today

The site was allocated to the Urban Council in 1973 and made a park, called the Signal Hill Garden (), which was officially opened on 20 August 1974. Signal Hill Tower is still standing and is now a declared a monument. A small building in the park, now repurposed as a toilet, was where typhoon signals were hoisted in Hong Kong as it was located on the highest hill near the middle of

. The entrance of the park is at Minden Row. The Signal Hill Garden is adjacent to the Middle Road Children's Playground. However, the two parks are not contiguous and one cannot walk to the other without first exiting to the street. Note that the opening hours (for 2019) for the Tower are: 9:00 am - 11:00 am and 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm daily.

Gallery

File:Timeballs on Blackhead Point.jpg, Signal Hill Tower and the timeball before the additional storey was added. File:1908 Time Ball Tower.jpg, The time ball tower in 1908. File:Signal Tower Interior 202007.jpg, Interior of Signal Tower in 2020

References

External links

Antiquities Advisory Board The Antiquities Advisory Board (AAB) is a statutory body of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region with the responsibility of advising the Antiquities Authority on any matters relating to antiquities and monuments. The AAB was establish ...

Heritage Appraisal of the Signal Tower. Blackhead Point (Tai Pau Mai), Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon

Cultural Heritage Structures, Sites and Objects on Signal Hill
{{coord, 22, 17, 46, N, 114, 10, 27, E, source:zhwiki, display=title Tsim Sha Tsui Capes of Hong Kong Mountains, peaks and hills of Hong Kong Urban public parks and gardens in Hong Kong Time balls