The Developing History of Kaohsiung Port / 高雄港開港140週年之歷史發展
140Years ago, Takao Customs was officially established. It was a milestone of Kaohsiung's development into a new era. Takao is the original name of Kaohsiung and came from the Pingpu tribe, the original inhabitants in Kaohsiung. During the Japanese Colonization Era, because some people thought the name was not elegant enough, Takao was renamed Kaohsiung, which has a similar pronunciation to Takao in Japanese. In the developing history of Kaohsiung, the Port is the most important of all. Compared with the
development of other major cities in Taiwan, Kaohsiung developed later but expanded faster. The key for Kaohsiung to become the capital of south Taiwan is the Port.
In the early operating period of Kaohsiung Port, Tainan, being established at the same time, was much more prosperous than the little fishing port of Takao. Therefore, Tainan played the main role while Kaohsiung was second best. After Tainan Harbor silted up and resulted in difficulty anchoring, foreigners became in favor with Kaohsiung Port. Takao Customs and the British Consulate were established in 1864. After the completion of the British Consulate on the mountain of Hsitzuwan Beach in 1867, the Port gradually became the largest in the Southern Taiwan. With the operation of the port, many western imports such as religion and medicine began to be transmitted into the city, and offering Kaohsiung a new window to the world.
Kaohsiung Port began to operate in the last reign of Ching dynasty. Although it improved a lot at that time, the key for it to become the largest commercial port in the south is the all-out construction during the Japanese colonization. The natural conditions of Kaohsiung Port were good, but it was often choked up with silt. In 1895, the Japanese government occupied Taiwan, and began to deal with this problem. In 1908, the building port project was initiated, which transformed the port into a modern one.
In addition to the construction, the north-south railway was officially established in 1908. It accelerated the development of the Port. The terminal station of the north-south railway was Kaohsiung. Various goods in southern Taiwan were transported by the railway, and transported from the Port to the whole world, which let it become the leading port of southern Taiwan. All these made the City develop fast, and become the capital down southern.
At the end of World War Ⅱ1945, the oort developed rapidly with the foreign-directed economic aid to Taiwan. The introduction of cargo vessels in 1969 brought the operation into a new era, ranking it as the third largest container port at that time. And it is ranked as sixth in the world now, achieving the golden age of the port.
The business of containerization flourishes at the Port, but due to the city-and-harbor-separation policy, citizens do not have easy access to the port area. Regretfully not until recent years was this amended. The opening policy of port No.22, recently opened at the end of Hsinkung Road, for example, renews the relationship between Kaohsiung citizens and Kaohsiung Port. In addition, they will establish Free Trade Port Areas to accelerate the economic development when confronting the other ports in the Asia Pacific Region. After operating for 140 years, the entire port will try to make both the City and itself a brand-new "Ocean Capital" in the new era of professional competitiveness and water-friendly trait.
140年前(1864年)，打狗海關正式成立，象徵著高雄發展邁入新紀元。打狗是高雄的舊名，名稱來自於原住在高雄的平埔族「打狗社」，在日治時代，才因名稱不雅，將「打狗」改為與「打狗」日文發音相似的「高雄」。在高雄的發展中，舊稱打狗港的高雄港最為重要，比較台灣各大城市的發展，高雄市崛起時間較晚，卻能夠後來居上，成為南台灣的首府，其關鍵就在於高雄港。
開港初期，與高雄一起開港的台南府城，比打狗小漁港繁華許多，因此府城為正、高雄為副。但府城海口淤塞，不利船隻停泊，遂使得高雄港受到列強的青睞。1864年，打狗海關及英國駐打狗領事館設立，1867年，現在仍矗立在西子灣山上的英國領事館興建完畢，高雄港逐漸成為南部最大港，也隨著開港，許多西方事物，如宗教、醫學傳入高雄，開啟高雄的新視野。
高雄港在清末開港後，雖然有長足進步，但真能成為南部最大商港，其關鍵仍在日治時代的全力建設。高雄港天然條件雖佳，但常有泥沙淤積，1895年，日本政府領台後，開始正視此問題，1908年正式開始築港工程，讓高雄港成為現代化的港口。
除了築港，1908年縱貫鐵路正式貫通，更加速高雄港的發展，縱貫鐵路終點，就在高雄港，南台灣各種物產，透過鐵路運送，從高雄港運送到世界各地，讓高雄港成為南台灣總吞吐口，造就了高雄市的快速發展，成為南台灣首府。
1945年二次大戰結束，戰後的高雄港，配合台灣對外為主的經濟趨勢，急速發展，1969年更引進貨櫃船，開啟了高雄港貨櫃作業的新紀元，更使高雄港一度成為全球第三大的貨櫃港，目前為全球第六大，成就了高雄港的黃金時代。
貨櫃轉運雖為高雄港帶來了新的顛峰，但因為「市港分離」政策，一般市民無法輕易的進入港區，這項遺憾，一直到近幾年才開始打破，如新光路底22號碼頭開放等政策，讓市民重新展開與高雄港的新關係。除此之外，面對亞太其他港口的競爭，高雄港即將成立「自由貿易港區」，加速經濟發展。在開港140年後，高雄港將在既有成就上，加上親水與專業競爭力，讓新世紀的高雄港與高雄市，成為全新的「海洋首都」。