The name Tsim Sha Tsui appears as early as the Wanli-era Guangdong coastal charts recorded in Kwok Fei's Yue Daji.
The 1819 Xin'an County Gazetteer records a Tsim Sha Tsui village between today's Cameron Road and Granville Road; its pier later shipped incense wood from Dongguan and gave the area the name Heung Po Tau, the district's earliest trade record.