Shau Kei Wan was named as the area shaped like a sieve before reclamation. People could only rely on sampan services that offered few runs to the City of Victoria until the tram route extended to this area in 1904.

 

     During the 19th century, the quarry business in Shau Kei Wan flourished because of the demand from the colonial government for rocks and granite to construct the City of Victoria. This attracted many Hakka people from Huizhou to earn a living in the A Kung Ngam.
 

     Shau Kei Wan was one of the eight largest local fishing harbours in Hong Kong, and many “boat people” (people who lived on water and made a living on fishery) congregated there. They were mostly Tanka people who spoke their dialect. In the bustling harbour, it was not uncommon to see different types of ships like houseboats, repair ships and garbage scows that berthed in the typhoon shelter, forming a community on the water.

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     筲箕灣原為天然海灣，因形似筲箕而得名。俗語有話：「英雄被困筲箕灣，不知何日到中環」，昔日其位置偏僻，到達維多利亞城須靠班次疏落的舢舨，至1904年電車路線延伸至筲箕灣，情況才稍作改善。

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     19世紀，筲箕灣打石業興盛，阿公岩為開採花崗岩的石礦場，吸引不少來自惠州的客家人來謀生。開埠早期政府需大興土木以發展維多利亞城，石材轉以對內供應為主。
 

     筲箕灣昔日為本地「八大漁港」之一，曾聚集大量水上人，即於水上生活的人或出海撈捕及於漁排養殖鹹水魚的漁民。他們大多是講「水佬話」的蜑家人。往日避風塘停泊的船隻種類繁多，如見證水上人起居飲食的住家艇、供水的水艇、方便進行維修的機器船等。