Pal Meriam is an administrative area that unites with urban villages in the Matraman District, East Jakarta. This village is bordered by Paseban Village to the north, Kebon Manggis Village to the west, Kayu Manis Village to the east, and Pisangan Baru Village to the south.

There are several versions of naming the area named Pal Meriam. The first version is associated with an open war between the Dutch and British troops that occurred around 1813. According to the Betawi Cultural Congress book published by the DKI Jakarta Provincial Tourism and Culture Office (2011), at that time, British cannon artillery troops took place in this area to the position of the cannon ready to fire.

British cannon troops prepared in this area to attack the city of Batavia. Due to the large number of cannons, the people named the area Paal Meriam which was interpreted as a place where cannons were prepared.

Another story states that when Batavia was under the leadership of Governor-General Daendels, he opened the Trans Java road from Anyer (Banten) to Panarukan (East Java). Well, during the construction process of the Trans Java road, Governor Daendels marked the road route markers using an unused cannon. Because of that, residents often see the cannon as a road peg or also called a road paal made of cannon, so the area is called a cannon hammer.