南湖派出所

Nanhu Police Station

January 29th, 2025

Dahu was home to three police stations established during the Japanese colonial era. The only one that survives today is in Nanhu (formerly Nanko in Japanese), a village deeper into the mountains south of town along Provincial Highway 3 (台3線). Not much is shared about it online, but it was likely built in the 1930s and continued to serve as a police station through the post-war period. A newer station, plausibly dating back to the 1980s, now stands next door, but there’s a good chance the old station remained a staff dormitory for years after it was decommissioned. Nowadays it is effectively abandoned to the elements.

Nanhu Police Station (南湖派出所) — The view from the highway. For anyone traveling south you’d easily miss the old building on the left if you weren’t watching for it.

Oblique View of Nanhu Police Station (南湖派出所) — Golden light falling on an old police station in rural Dahu.

I noticed this old station while riding south along the highway on my way to Taichung in early 2026. I stopped to take a closer look and, after securing permission from the officers in the station, I shot some photos from the outside looking in. Despite a broken roof the foundation seems to be in surprisingly decent shape and I could imagine it being restored one day, should there be any interest in doing so. Apart from Tongluo Police Station there might not be any other police stations marked for preservation in Miaoli.