The Village of Baillieston in Lanarkshire, grew out of a number of small hamlets, including Crosshill, Barrachnie, and Bredisholm, which developed as farming and weaving communities in the latter part of the 18th century.
The opening of the coalmines, contruction of the canal
and later the railway stimulated the rapid growth of Baillieston which soon took on the typical character of a mining village, and some weaving survived until the end of the century.
The population reached almost 4000 by WWI, and the population gradually came to form a distinct village community molded by the common experience of a harsh living.
At the beginning of the 20th century the mines declined and with no other employment, the character of the village began to change. This was
accelerated by the extension of the tramway system which early in the century greatly improved the transport links to Coatbridge to the east but more importantly to the city of Glasgow to the west.
In 1975 the local government changed and the village was transferred from Lanarkshire and absorbed into the City of Glasgow.
Today private estates have been constructed around the village and little remains of the original community.
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