The hill was named after
Nathaniel Wallich, a Dutch
surgeon and
botanist who fell ill on a trip to Singapore in 1822 and took up residence in a house at the top of the hill called Botany Hall. Over the next few months, Wallich helped
Sir Stamford Raffles submit a proposal to the government to establish the Singapore Botanical & Experimental Garden, a forerunner to the
Singapore Botanic Gardens. In 1885, Mount Wallich was levelled for the Telok Ayer Reclamation Scheme, a project to further expand Collyer Quay. It was a difficult and tedious project as the hills were rocky and the
Public Works Department (PWD) had to blast out parts of Mount Wallich. The area that was reclaimed would become the
Central Business District (CBD) of Singapore, as well as the areas where Raffles Quay,
Anson Road, and
Robinson Road currently lie. == References ==