Before Hong Kong grew into a city, this site was located on a shorefront lane (now Hollywood Road) and was originally named Tai Hang Hau (‘Big Puddle’) after the water that collected here from a stream that flowed down from the Peak into Victoria Harbour. This is where British soldiers landed in 1841, therefore named Possession Point. The ‘big puddle’ was filled in and Possession Street was built over it. The name in Chinese is 'Shui Hang Hau Street', a reference to the mouth of the stream that once discharged its waters here.

水坑口原稱「大坑口」。開埠前，坑口位於今大馬路荷李活道間，坑水流入維多利亞港內。1841年英軍於該處登陸，命名為「佔領角」。其後大水坑被填平，新闢的馬路英文名為 Possession Street，初譯為「波些臣街」，後改稱「水坑口街」。