Pottinger Street is a street in Central

Central, Hong Kong

Central is the central business district of Hong Kong. It is located in Central and Western District, on the north shore of Hong Kong Island, across Victoria Harbour from Tsim Sha Tsui, the southernmost point of Kowloon Peninsula...

, Hong Kong

Hong Kong

Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

. It is also better known as the Stone Slabs Street (石板街) by the locals, after the granite stone steps which are a rarity nowadays in Hong Kong. The street was named after Henry Pottinger, the first Governor of Hong Kong

Governor of Hong Kong

The Governor of Hong Kong was the head of the government of Hong Kong during British rule from 1843 to 1997. The governor's roles were defined in the Hong Kong Letters Patent and Royal Instructions...

.

Location

The street was originally on the slope between Queen's Road Central and Hollywood Road

Hollywood Road

Hollywood Road is a street in Central and Sheung Wan, on Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong.Hollywood Road is filled with trinket and antique shops of all sorts: from Chinese furniture to porcelain ware, from Buddha sculptures to Tibetan rugs, from Japanese netsukes to Coromandel screens, from Ming...

. Central District subsequently underwent several reclamation

Land reclamation in Hong Kong

Land is in short supply in Hong Kong, and land reclamation has been conducted there since the mid-19th century.-Projects:One of the earliest and famous project was the Praya Reclamation Scheme, which added 50 to of land in 1890 during the second phase of construction...

 projects and thus the street was extended north from Queen's Road Central to Connaught Road Central. Several buildings like Man Yee Building

Man Yee Building

The original Man Yee Building , built in 1957, was the first tower in Hong Kong with elevators. Located between Queen's Road Central, Pottinger Street and Des Voeux Road Central in Central on the Hong Kong Island, the tower was demolished in 1999 and re-built as a 35 storey glass wrapped tower...

, Wing On House, Chinachem Tower and Hong Kong Chinese Bank Building are in this section.

History

The first Roman Catholic cathedral of Hong Kong was built in 1843 at the junction of Pottinger Street and Wellington Street

Wellington Street, Hong Kong

Wellington Street is a street in Central and Sheung Wan on Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong. It is a straight road running downward and westward from Wyndham Street to Queen's Road Central. The two sides of street is a mosaic of old and new buildings. Varieties of trades can be found on the street level...

 and was destroyed in a fire in 1859. It was rebuilt, but subsequently a different site was selected and the current Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception at Caine Road

Caine Road

Caine Road is a main road in Hong Kong connecting Bonham Road in the west and Arbuthnot Road and Upper Albert Road in the east ....

was completed 1888.