History of Preston 1900 to now
1909
An Ordnance Survey map of Central Preston in 1909 is available although it says 1912 Edition inside. On this map the items that stand out are The Yard Works across from the Prison and New Preston and Alliance Mills on New Hall Lane. Quite a few gasworks and mill reservoirs. Features that have disappeared such as the houses near the centre of town and the narrow streets, lots of terraced houses. The tramway up Deepdale Road, Ribbleton Lane, New Hall Lane, Friargate, Fishergate and North Road. The map shows the end of the Lancaster Canal at Maudland with the star shaped railway track where the coal yards met the canal. The maps are available from Alan Godfrey Maps, Consett. www.alangodfreymaps.co.uk.
Just after the turn of the century the County Court Building was built next to the Harris Library and has a similar finish but with ornate towers.
Engineering was developing in the early part of this time and Strand Road was developing next to the docks.
First World War.
Cinemas were being built on Church Street with the Empire, Palladium, New Victoria, Ritz in a cluster.
Second World War.
In the 1950's the cotton mills began to close. Motorways began.
In the 1960's bold decisions were made to sweep away old buildings and create high rise flats, shopping centres and new roads. Similar to many places in the UK. Secondary Modern Schools were built. Suburban sprawl began.
New buildings such as Crystal House, St Georges Shopping Centre, Harris College Technical Building, the New Bus Station and Guild Hall were built.
In the 1970's the dock closed for trade and a slow process of redevelopment started. The Electricity Power Station next to the docks closed and gas works began to move away from coal.
The railways were electrified, many branch lines closed, motorways became widespread.
In the 1990's the Fishergate Centre opened and the docks took on a new look.
University status was given to Preston Polytechnic.
Preston was declared a city at the Millenium and the main church became a minster.
Call centres became major employers.
In the 21st Century Preston is (has) developing into the main regional centre with good rail and road links, quite a good shopping area, reasonable culture with the Harris Art Gallery and Charter Theatre and a large youth culture at the University. Also the area around Winckley Square is smartish with a few decent cafes and there is a good mixture of old and new buildings throughout. In this respect it has done better than most of the nearby towns but there are still the inevitable problem areas. It's proximity to Manchester and Liverpool might be both a hindrance and help in that it isn't a bad commute, bringing in money, but then it is competing against their larger shopping and entertainment facilities. There is a big scheme to rebuild a large part of the centre and this plan is slowly moving forward. There is also a scheme to develop the river area although this doesn't seem to be moving.
The area around Preston took a new look as the Central Lancashire New Town slowly filled the fields into the surburbia of South Ribble. New roads and motorways seem to create a spidersweb which gets very congested for a few hours around 8am and 5pm every day. Park and Ride systems are in place at most compass points.