This postcard shows an aerial view of the River Valley residential district (foreground) and the civic district (left background), Central Business District (centre background), and Shenton Way (right background) financial district skylines. One of the pioneering settlers in the River Valley district was Dr. Thomas Oxley, a respected surgeon who established nutmeg plantations in the area in 1837. He built a country house atop Oxley Hill in 1842 that became known as Killiney House. Oxley sold off his plantations and country home in the 1860s following the worldwide fall in nutmeg prices. His land was bought over by wealthy Chinese merchants who began to build grand villas in the area. River Valley has since developed into a prime residential district near the city centre. One of the prominent landmarks in the area was the Imperial Hotel (centre left) located at Jalan Rumbia off River Valley Road. The hotel was one of the many properties established around the outlying city area during the hotel construction boom of the late 1960s and 1970s. Opened in 1971, the property was eventually demolished and redeveloped into the Imperial condominium complex in 2003.
