Cầu Ông Lãnh

Cầu Ông Lãnh is a ward of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. It is one of 168 new wards, communes and special zones in Ho Chi Minh City after the 2025 arrangement.

Origins

The name of the ward is derived from the fact that the quarter surrounding Ông Lãnh bridge was a bustling commercial area, with Cầu Ông Lãnh market and some major markets nearby, e.g. Cầu Muối, Cháy Market and Market of Chicken-Rice, next to the same name bridge, which was once the largest wholesale market in the city until the new wholesale markets were built in the suburb of Ho Chi Minh City like Bình Điền in the west, Thủ Đức in the northeast and Hóc Môn in the northwest.
The Nguyễn Thái Học Boulevard run across the ward was known as Rue de Kitchener in the French Indochina period as slaughterhouse were located on the both side of this street.

Geography

Cầu Ông Lãnh lies in the center of Ho Chi Minh City, it borders the following wardsː

Bàn Cờ to the north by Nguyễn Thị Minh Khai Street
Chợ Quán to the west by Nguyễn Văn Cừ Boulevard
Khánh Hội and Vĩnh Hội to the south by the Bến Nghé Channel
Bến Thành to the east and northeast by Nguyễn Thái Học Boulevard, Trần Hưng Đạo Boulevard and streets of Nguyễn Cư Trinh - Cống Quỳnh

According to Official Dispatch No. 2896/BNV-CQDP dated May 27, 2025 of the Ministry of Home Affairs, after the arrangement, Cầu Ông Lãnh has an area of 1.6 km², the population as of December 31, 2024 is 78,734 people, the population density is 49,208 people/km².

History

During South Vietnam's rule over the ward, Cầu Ông Lãnh was a part of District 2.
In 1962 a part of Cầu Ông Lãnh was ceded to Bùi Viện ward
In 1976, District 2 was merged into District 1, Cầu Ông Lãnh was dissolved and divided into 4 wards: Ward 18, Ward 19, Ward 20 and Ward 21 of District 1.
On December 28, 1988, the Council of Ministers issued Decision 184-HDBT, it renamed Ward 20 into Cầu Ông Lãnh.
On June 16, 2025, the Standing Committee of the National Assembly issued Resolution No. 1685/NQ-UBTVQH15 on the arrangement of commune-level administrative units of Ho Chi Minh City in 2025. Accordingly, the eastern part of Cầu Ông Lãnh on Nguyễn Thái Học Boulevard was merged into the new Bến Thành ward, while the entire natural area and population size of Nguyễn Cư Trinh, Cầu Kho, 'Cô Giang and the western part of Cầu Ông Lãnh after being arranged according to the provisions of Clause 3, Article 1 will be arranged into a new ward called Cầu Ông Lãnh'.