Glasgow 850: 6 pictures showing the history and heritage of Glasgow's Glassford Street

Glassford Streets runs north from the junction of Argyle Street and through the Merchant City until Ingram Street.

Glassford Street is one of the main thoroughfares of Glasgow’s Merchant City. The name of the street itself is controversial, named after tobacco lord John Glassford who built his empire off the back of slavery.

Originally called Great Glassford Street, the street saw the demolition of the tobacco lord’s home, called Shawfield Mansion, to build the road.

There have been several drives to change the name of Glassford Street, given the connotations it holds with its links to slavery, alongside several street names in the Merchant City and city centre.

Glassford Street is at the centre of this controversy however, given the Glassford family held a young slave in their property then attempted to rewrite history by scrubbing him from the family portrait.

Glassford Street is also home to the historic Trades Hall - home to the Trades House of Glasgow - it was designed and built from 1791-1794 by Robert Adam, one of Scotland’s most famous architects. The Trades Hall building was built to serve as a public hall and meeting place for the city’s Trades House & 14 Incorporated Crafts

While the area is still called the Merchant City, it has seen many different industries since the days of transatlantic trade - long gone are the days it was a suburb for the affluent mercantile class, or the emerging middle class in the industrial era.

The area itself was never known as the Merchant City in the past. While it was first developed from 1750 onwards - the name Merchant City was introduced to the district in the 1980s in an urban renewal by the Scottish Development Agency and Glasgow City Council.

The term ‘Merchant City’ was first coined by historian and writer Charles Oakley in the 1960s.

Now Glassford Street is known for its hospitality - with the likes of Steps Bar being open for nearly 100 years - and is the centre of Glasgow’s LGBTQI+ nightlife scene.

Take a look below as we explore the history of Glassford Street in six old images from Glasgow’s past.