The earliest person to utilize the springs was a German trader, who in 1893 built a club in Peitou. Two years later, in 1895, after defeat in the Sino-Japanese War, the Qing court ceded Taiwan to Japan, and Peitou was sold to the Japanese and used as a resort for soldiers.
最早發現並主張利用北投溫泉的其實是德國貿易商，光緒十九年德商就在北投建立俱樂部；兩年後，清廷因甲午戰爭失利將台灣割讓給日本，北投也被徵購為日本軍人休息所。