Middlesbrough, United Kingdom

In 1801, Middlesbrough was a small farming township with a population of just 25. From 1829 onwards, it experienced rapid growth. In 1828, the influential Quaker banker, coal-mine owner and Stockton and Darlington Railway shareholder Joseph Pease sailed up the River Tees to find a suitable new site downriver of Stockton on which to place new coal staithes. As a result, in 1829, he and a group of Quaker businessmen bought the Middlesbrough farmstead and associated estate, some 527 acres (213 ha) of land and established the Middlesbrough Estate Company.

Through the company, the investors set about a new coal port development (designed by John Harris) on the southern banks of the Tees. The first coal shipping staithes at the port (known as "Port Darlington") were constructed with a settlement to the east established on the site of Middlesbrough farm as labour for the port, taking on the farm's name as it developed into a village.

The port was linked to the S&DR on 27 December 1830 via a branch that extended to an area just north of the current Middlesbrough railway station.

The success of the port meant it soon became overwhelmed by the volume of imports and exports; in 1839, work started on a dock to the east of Middlesbrough. The first water for the dock was let in on 19 March 1842, while the formal opening took place on 12 May 1842.

Iron dominated the Tees area since 1841, when Henry Bolckow in partnership with John Vaughan, founded the Vulcan iron foundry and rolling mill. Vaughan introduced the new 'Bell Hopper' system of closed blast furnaces developed at the Ebbw Vale works. The new system and nearby abundant supply of Ironstone in the Eston Hills in 1850, made the works a success with the area becoming known as the "Iron-smelting centre of the world" and Bolckow, Vaughan & Co., Ltd the largest company in existence at the time.

Middlesbrough's population grew quickly from 40 people in 1829 to 7,600 by 1851. Pig iron production rose tenfold between 1851 and 1856 and, by the mid-1870s, Middlesbrough was producing one third of the nation's pig iron output. During this time, the town earned the nickname Ironopolis.

On 21 January 1853, Middlesbrough received its Royal Charter of Incorporation, giving the town the right to have a mayor, aldermen and councillors. Henry Bolckow became mayor, in 1853.

In the latter half of the 19th century, Old Middlesbrough was starting to decline and was overshadowed by developments built around the new town hall, south of the original town hall.

On 15 August 1867, a Reform Bill was passed, making Middlesbrough a new parliamentary borough; Bolckow was elected member for Middlesbrough the following year.

The town's rapid expansion continued throughout the second half of the 19th century, fuelled by the iron and steel industry, and the population reached 90,000 by the dawn of the 20th century.

Middlesbrough was the first major British town and industrial target to be bombed during the Second World War, although the official date of the Blitz is a few months later. The steel-making capacity and railways for carrying steel products were obvious targets. The Luftwaffe first bombed the town on 25 May 1940, when a lone bomber dropped 13 bombs between South Bank Road and the South Steel plant. More bombing occurred throughout the course of the war, with the railway station put out of action for two weeks in 1942.

By the end of the war, more than 200 buildings had been damaged or destroyed in the Middlesbrough area. Areas of early- and mid-Victorian housing were demolished and much of central Middlesbrough was redeveloped. Heavy industry was relocated to areas of land better suited to the needs of modern technology. Middlesbrough itself began to take on a completely different look.

The transition from post-war industrial to modern non-industrial Middlesbrough changed the town; many buildings were replaced and roads built. The A66 road was built through the town in the 1980s and the Royal Exchange was demolished to make way for it.

Middlesbrough F.C.'s modern Riverside Stadium opened on 26 August 1995, next to Middlesbrough Dock. The club moved from Ayresome Park, which had been its home for 92 years.