The book Singapore Street Names threw up a number possibilities over how Tank Road got its name. One possibility is that it was named after a reservoir or tank located at the rear side of Fort Canning. The said reservoir is fed by a spring, and is used by the royal concubines of the old Kingdom of Temasek for bathing.
A different explanation pointed to a pool or tank that was dug at the foot of Fort Canning for use of the soldiers stationed there. This tank was also fed by a spring. Water pipes conduct the water from here to another tank near Coleman's Bridge for use by boats on the river. That tank was filled up in 1854 when H.A.K. Whampoa constructed his ice house there.
Hello and thanks for reading this page. My name is Timothy and my hobby is in describing places so that I can share the information with the general public. My website has become the go to site for a lot of people including students, teachers, journalists, etc. whenever they seek information on places, particularly those in Malaysia and Singapore. I have been doing this since 5 January 2003, for over twenty years already. You can read about me at Discover Timothy. By now I have compiled information on thousands of places, mostly in Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore, and I continue to add more almost every day. My goal is to describe every street in every town in Malaysia and Singapore.