Prior to its use as a cemetery, it was formerly Istana Bidadari which was used by Che Puan Besar Zubaidah, who was the second wife of Sultan Abu Bakar as her residence.

He gave it to his second wife, a Danish woman Zubaidah binti Abdullah who was born Cecilia Catharina Lange, for her residence.

In 1902, the Municipal Commissioners officially declared the acquisition of 26 hectares of the property to be used as a cemetery, which would be named after the estate.

[7] Apart from being a place of remembrance, the trails inside Bidadari Cemetery used to be very popular as a running route for members of the Gurkha Contingent.

[10] Singaporeans were concerned that the history of Bidadari Cemetery was being erased and something should be done to commemorate the historical figures who were buried there.

[11] As a result, the National Heritage Board decided to relocate the cemetery gates and twenty tombstones of key historical figures, including Ahmad Ibrahim, Minister of Health of Singapore from 1959 until 1961 and the Minister of Labour until his death in 1962, to Bidadari Memorial Garden, which was created in 2004, at Mount Vernon.

[7][12] The Woodleigh MRT station which was constructed close to the western end of former Malay and Christian sections along the Upper Serangoon Road, was completed and operational in 2003 but remained closed due to low commuter traffic in the vicinity.