A Brief History of Barrhead
5 May, 20101750 - The name Barrhead first appears in records. The town was formed as the textile-producing hamlets of Barrhead, Arthurlie, Grahamston and Gateside grew into each other.
1842 - The Glanderston Dam bursts, drowning seven people.
1849 - The Glasgow, Barrhead and Neilston Railway opens.
1851 - 63 men and boys, many from Barrhead, are killed in an explosion in Victoria Colliery in Nitshill. They are buried at St John's Church on Darnley Road.
1868 - Shanks and Co open their first works in Main Street.
1894 - Barrhead is made a burgh.
WWII - Barrhead is bombed by German aircraft heading for Clydebank and Yoker.
1969 - Shanks of Barrhead amalgamates with Armitage Ware Ltd to become Armitage Shanks.
1989 - Armitage Shanks' tubal works closes.
1992 - The ceramic works closes, ending Shanks' long presence in Barrhead.
2010 - s1barrhead.com is launched to give locals a place to discuss local issues, place small ads, air their opinions, advertise events and show off pictures and video.
Now it's your turn!
That's the briefest of brief summaries, and hardly covers the most important dates. But this is where you come in. There's lots of interest in local history and lots of local knowledge out there - so why not share it here?
Perhaps you'd like to build a better, more complete time-line, or start your own article about your favourite aspect of the history of Barrhead? And there must also be a wealth of wonderful photographs of Barrhead in years gone by - maybe even some video of more recent events - and those are more than welcome here.
Post it all here, and let's see if we can really chronicle the history of Barrhead in a way we can all share!
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