It is the only remaining building of a former pumping station, which was built in 1895 and ceased operation in 1911. Its three buildings underwent different adaptive reuse: one of them, now demolished, was converted into a post office in the 1910s–1920s. Another one became a hazardous goods store. The remaining building became a hawkers control office. In the pre-war and early post-war days Yunnan Lane, which was located by the side of the post office, became a place where professional letter writers set up their stalls. The post office ceased operation in 1967 with the opening of the nearby Kowloon Central Post Office. The vacated post office was then used as a "Street Sleepers' Shelter" operated by the Salvation Army, until the end of the 1990s, when the shelter for the homeless moved across the street to the building on 345A Shanghai Street, where it is still located.