Many visitors and citizens of Singapore, visit Orchard Road. This is the main market in all of Singapore, with everything from fruits and vegetables grown by local farmers, to flower stalls, clothing shops and restaurants. In the downtown area the market is close to the Singapore luxury hotels, and the business district and other attraction and visitor sites. Orchard Road has no rival, as the choices offered, the quantity and the quality have over the years made this one area the central location for shopping, fun and dining. The area offers everything in terms of shopping and the bars and cafes are perfect for taking a break from the hustle and bustle, relaxing, and just watching those passing by.
During the middle 1,800′s this street was lined with plantations, nutmeg and pepper trees primarily, hence the name Orchard Road. The first plantation owners were the only people living in the area. Over the years the plantations survived through various plagues, or natural disasters such as flooding or drought, and most remained very successful. Then, in the early years of the 1,900′s a disease came through and effectively wiped out all the nutmeg, in the course of one year. The disease was never identified, and the result would change the history of the road forever.
Villages had been settled around the plantations and when those were destroyed, the Singapore Cold Storage Co. opened a market. This store provided produce and dried goods to the people in the area. During the next fifty years a dam was rebuilt and the canals were reconstructed to better control the flow of the water and thus cut down the amount of flooding in the valley. The first department store was opened in the 50′s, and with that…many other businesses started to open, coffee shops, and restaurants started to line the street. Throughout the rest of the century, development and commercial industries have continued and the result is that this is now, the main hot spot for shopping, entertainment and cultural activities in Singapore and for the surrounding cities as well.
