The old District Office (North), built around 1907, was the earliest civil administration office in the newly leased New Territories. Administration, magistracy and land registration in the northern New Territories were carried out in the building. It is a two-storey, red brick building with a spacious verandah and brick arches on the front. It is now used as the Eastern Region Headquarters of the Scout Association of Hong Kong.
Built in 1899, the old Tai Po Police Station was the first formal police station and police headquarters in the New Territories. The station is rich in the colonial architectural style, but there are also some Chinese elements. It was closed in 1987 and has been revitalised as "Green Hub" for promoting sustainable living.
So Lau Yuen was built by Tang Kuen Hin, the sixth rank military official, during the Qianlong reign (1736-1795) of the Qing dynasty. In the mid-nineteenth century, it became a study hall and later was turned into the headquarters of the local self-defence village patrol. The building has two halls and one courtyard, with some beams and corbel brackets made of granite.
The old Central Police Station is one of the few surviving police stations built in the nineteenth century in Hong Kong. It was closed in December 2004. Inside the building compound, the main highlights are the Barrack Block, built in 1864, and the Headquarters Block, built in 1919.
The former Central Magistracy building was completed in 1914, making it one of the oldest surviving court buildings in Hong Kong. It was closed in 1979, and since then, it has been used as an affiliated building of the Supreme Court and offices of the Immigration Department, and by an affiliated association of the Police.
Some of the earliest colonial buildings built in the mid-nineteenth century are still inside the old Victoria Prison. From the 1980s onwards, the prison was used to house illegal immigrants and Vietnamese refugees. It ceased operation in 2006.
