According to historian Lin Heng-tao, at the end of the Ming and early part of the Qing dynasties, the Shaomaochu Tribe of plains aborigines lived in this area. It became a place where people who had come over from mainland China traded with the plains aborigines, and was popularly known as "Chihhsing Street" or "Sweet Potato City."
根據歷史學者林衡道的說法，此處本為明末清初平埔族村落「紗帽廚社」的舊地，是當年往來的大陸移民與平埔族交易的地方，後來俗稱「直興街」，又叫蕃薯市。