The 1819 edition of the
Gazetteer of Sun On County () did not mention today's Quarry Bay. Historians such as Anthony Kwok Kin Siu suggested Quarry Bay was a remote area before British colonial time. During
colonial Hong Kong times, the
Hakka stonemasons settled in the area after the British arrival. This area was a bay where rock from the hillsides were quarried and transported by ship for building construction or road building. The Chinese name
Tsak Yue Chung () reveals that it was a small stream where
crucian carp () could be found in the 19th century. The English name was
Arrow Fish Creek. The original bay has disappeared since
land reclamation has taken place, and was about from the current coastline.
Taikoo The eastern part of Quarry Bay, namely '''', was largely owned by
Swire and therefore many places and facilities are named after the company's Chinese name,
Taikoo. The river originally flowed into the bay, however it was shut off from the sea with the construction of the to supply fresh water to the
Taikoo Dockyard, the Taikoo Sugar factory at Tong Chong Street (), and later the Swire
Coca-Cola factory at Greig Road () and
Yau Man Street (). The upper course of the river was converted into a cement-paved catchwater, and the lower course is the present-day Quarry Bay Street (), with the original
estuary near the Quarry Bay Street –
King's Road junction. In the mid-1980s, the hillside was converted into
Kornhill apartment buildings, the reservoir into () apartment buildings, and the Dockyard into
Taikoo Shing. The Coca-Cola factory is now apartment
Kornville (), and Taikoo Sugar is now the
Taikoo Place, a commercial hub.
Lai Chi The western end of Quarry Bay was historically part of
North Point; during the 1930s its beaches became one of the most popular places for holding swimming galas in Hong Kong. From this basis an upmarket entertainment complex, the Ritz Nightclub (), was built in the area in 1947. The nightclub was demolished a few years later to make way for the construction of apartment buildings during the latter half of the 1950s. Nonetheless, for years afterwards, the western part of Quarry Bay continued to be known informally as
Lai Chi (), made more so by the name being
homophone to Cantonese for "late as usual" () – a reference to
King's Road, until 1984 the only thoroughfare in the area and thus infamous for traffic congestion. To this day, some buildings in the western part of Quarry Bay are named as "North Point something building", although they are across the modern-day limit of
North Point at Man Hong Street / Healthy Street West. ==Location==