Though it doesn't have much of a hinterland, its geographic location has proved historically important, as one can see from the prehistoric cultures unearthed at the Ta-pen-keng and Shih-san-hang archeological sites.
河岸腹地不大的八里，因地理位置特殊，有其歷史的豐富性，由十三行、大盆坑等考古遺址的發掘，就可略見端倪。