Port Dickson

                                                               
                                                                   PORT DICKSON

Port Dickson, or PD to locals, is a coastal town and parliamentary constituency in Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia. It takes just over an hour by car to travel from Kuala Lumpur to Port Dickson along the North South Expressway.

This small town used to produce charcoal and therefore was called Arang (Malay: "charcoal")
there used to be a carbon mine at the first mile of the coast road (hence named Jalan Pantai)  but it was later developed as a small port by the British during the Straits Settlement period. Port Dickson was also known as Tanjung (Malay: "cape"). The oldest shophouses were the four situated presently at Jalan Lama.

Historically what is today Port Dickson and nearby Lukut were part of Selangor. On 30 July 1880, a meeting was held in Singapore between Sultan Abdul Samad (then Sultan of Selangor), Raja Bot (the ruler of Lukut district), Dato' Kelana of Sungai Ujong as well as the British, in which Selangor cedes the district of Lukut to Sungai Ujong (which later became Negeri Sembilan).

Tin ore was plentiful in Lukut, an area within the Port Dickson district, during the 1820s, and it attracted Chinese immigrant miners. The British considered the area to have great potential as a harbour. It was intended to supersede the port in Pengkalan Kempas. The in-charge officer's name was Dickson, and thereafter the town was named Port Dickson. Others claim that Sir John Frederick Dickson, colonial secretary, a senior official of the Federated Malay States founded Port Dickson and Pulau Arang in 1889.

Port Dickson evolved into a busy trading centre. Railways were constructed to facilitate the growth and development of Port Dickson. Although Port Dickson experienced rapid development, the beautiful beaches are fairly well preserved.

Port Dickson is also home to many army camps of the Malaysian Army such as Sebatang Karah, Segenting, Si Rusa and Sunggala. In September 2009, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak declared Port Dickson as an "Army Town" in recognition of her role in the nation's military services.