The original Telok Ayer Market’s trademark octagonal building was first built in 1825 at the cost of $4,000. The structure is believed to have been paid for by a merchant named Tan Che San. Originally a fish market, it was rebuilt in 1833 by George Drumgoole Coleman when the original structure was considered unsafe. The land reclamation of Telok Ayer Bay in 1879 resulted in the demolition of this iconic building. In 1890, a new Telok Ayer Market was built by James MacRitchie, who reinterpreted it in a Victorian design idiom. It was the first market built by the Municipal Commission and one of the first structures in Asia made of re-fabricated cast-iron. The filigreed cast and wrought iron were imported from Glasgow. This photograph shows the building during the construction process.
