Local historian and writer Li Ming-chin says that the designation "leading town" indicates that Wantan already had a street layout and was a market center. All the main ferry crossings of what was then called the Tanshui River (today the Kaoping River) were around Wantan, and many visitors passed through. This was a genuine town 70 or 80 years before any of its neighbors.
萬丹文史工作者李明進說明，「萬丹街仔頭」表示萬丹是當時最早成街、做生意最熱鬧的地區，因為清代下淡水溪（今之高屏溪）的幾大渡船口，都在萬丹轄區內，進出的人口量多，使她成為屏東平原上第一個「街市」，比起其他週邊鄉鎮早約七、八十年。