Fullerton Square, estate, in the Downtown Core of the Central Region. It was named in honour of Robert Fullerton, the first Governor of the United Settlements (1826 -1830). Fullerton Square is today a busy thoroughfare leading to the business hub of Raffles Place. The area also offers limited carpark space.
History
Fort Fullerton used to stand on the site which is today known as Fullerton Square. The Fort with Artillery Barracks, a house for officers and barracks for soldiers was built in 1829 to defend the town of Singapore at the river mouth. On Battery Point, 68-pounder guns guarded the entrance to the River. In 1859, the fort was enlarged nearly three times its original size at a cost of $840,000. The fort was demolished in 11 June 1873. On the same site the Exchange Building opened in 1879, and was replaced by Fullerton Building in 1928.
In 1882, a Victorian-styled fountain was installed in Fullerton Square in commemoration of influential merchant Tan Kim Seng's donation to the City's Waterworks. When the Tan Kim Seng Fountain was moved to the Esplanade in 1925, the space became a car park which became the venue for many, heavily attended, election rallies in the past. Important buildings then came up around the square. Flint's Building was one, at the corner of Battery Road/Fullerton Square, where originally stood A. L. Johnston & Co., the site where the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank has had three structures, first in 1892, then in 1925 and the latest completed in 1982. Fullerton Building built in 1928, on the Fort Fullerton site, was for years the General Post Office, holding other government offices including the Inland Revenue Dept., Singapore Chamber of Commerce. Fullerton Building is today known as the "Fullerton Hotel".
Author
Vernon Cornelius-Takahama
References
Buckley, C. B. (1984). An anecdotal history of old times in Singapore: 1819-1867 (pp. 210, 675). Singapore: Oxford University Press.
(Call no.: RSING 959.57 BUC)
Tyers, R. K. (1993). Ray Tyers' Singapore: Then and now (pp. 9, 19, 118-123). Singapore: Landmark Books.
(Call no.: RSING 959.57 TYE)
The information in this article is valid as at 1999 and correct as far as we are able to ascertain from our sources. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history of the subject. Please contact the Library for further reading materials on the topic.
