St James Terrace, Kinning Park, Glasgow

Black and white photograph, c.1910
RCAHMS

Kinning Park was formally planned in 1834 when Sir John Maxwell of Pollok developed plans for a new model village between the areas of Tradeston and Govan. He envisioned a new middle-class area of villas, crescents and squares, but industrial expansion into the area resulted in less costly housing being built instead.

Development began with the construction of Pollok Street around 1842, with the area expanding into Scotland Street. Further intermingled tenements and factories were built in the late 1860s and 1870s. By 1870, Kinning Park had a population of around 6,000 and by 1905 it was 14,000, working mainly in the community's many engineering and boilermaking workshops or in Gray Dunn and Co's biscuit factory.

A proposal to construct the M8 motorway through Kinning Park was first suggested in 1945, with the motorway eventually being built during 1970-76. This resulted in a large part of the old district being demolished, with many residents displaced to other areas of Glasgow or to new towns further afield.