A combination of the words Tanjong (meaning cape) and pokok rhu (casurina littoria), the earliest mention of the road is thought to be in Emanuel Godiho de Erédia's 1604 map of Singapore where it was referred to as Tanjon Ru.

Whilst it is unknown when the road was named Tanjong Rhu Road, it is known that the earliest source in which name appears is Emanuel Godiho de Erédia's 1604 map of Singapore, titled, Discripsao chorographica dos Estreitos de Sincapura e Sabbam, ano 1604, which refers to the area as Tanion Ru.

[1][2] Colonial maps of Singapore in the first half of the 19th-century referred to the area as Sandy Point, which was gradually replaced by Tanjong Rhu.

By the early 20th century, Tanjong Rhu became a venerable shipbuilding hub with many known companies having shipyards there such as Thornycroft[4] and United Engineers as well as having clients such as the Singaporean Marine Police Force and the Ceylon Navy.

Additionally, the coffin-makers, firewood and charcoal dealers, godowns, rubber and sawmills, and squatters in Kampong Arang (near Tanjong Rhu Shipyard) were phased out by 1982, with them receiving compensation following recent appeals to the Singapore Land Authority.