With the advent of steamships in the early 1860s and the growth of shipping with the opening of the Suez Canal, wharves were built by the privately owned Tanjong Pagar Dock Company and the New Harbour Dock Company. The Victoria and Albert Docks, owned by the Tanjong Pagar Dock Company, are seen in the background, a sign of massive changes to come. Tanjong Pagar Road became one of the main thoroughfares for the transportation of goods between the docks and the godowns along the Singapore River.
