Pulau Saigon (alternatively spelled as Pulo Saigon) was a small island in the

Singapore River The Singapore River is a river that flows parallel to Alexandra Road and feeds into the Marina Reservoir in the southern part of Singapore. The immediate upper watershed of the Singapore River is known as the Singapore River Planning Area, althou ...

. It used to be located between the banks of

Robertson Quay Robertson Quay is a wharf near the source of the Singapore River. It is the largest and most upstream of the three wharfs (the other two being Boat Quay and Clarke Quay) on the river and is named after a municipal counsellor Dr J Murray Robertso ...

. The island was shown as a mangrove marsh in an 1839 map. Subsequent maps have shown it to be located closer to the northern bank of the river. It was first featured by name as ''Kampong Saigon'' on a map of 1878. In 1888, British projects to increase the width and depth of the Singapore River made it easier to access existing warehouses on Pulau Saigon, which in turn made other parts of the island commercially viable. Quays and bridges were built and many of the island's original buildings were demolished and replaced by those from new industries ranging from slaughtering

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult ma ...

, manufacturing

pottery Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other ceramic materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. Major types include earthenware, stoneware and ...

, and burning

rubbish Rubbish may refer to: *Waste *Garbage * ''Rubbish'' (magazine), a fashion magazine * ''Rubbish'' (radio series), a British radio series *"Rubbish", a song by Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine *An adjective which is colloquially used in British En ...

. These former industrial enterprises of Pulau Saigon make it useful for archaeological study. Pulau Saigon became an extension of the mainland when the western arm of the river was drained in 1972. By 1988, the only extant buildings at Pulau Saigon were old warehouses in disrepair. In 1991, the eastern arm of the river was drained as well and the island was completely merged with the mainland at Magazine road. It is no longer depicted on modern maps of Singapore. In February and March 2016, an exhibit at the Archaeological Library of the National University of Singapore by Debbie Ding featured speculative examples of artefacts from the island.

References

Islands of Singapore {{singapore-geo-stub