A Timeline of Aberdeen

By Tim Lambert

c. 750 Aberdeen is founded as a fishing settlement

1137 Aberdeen has grown into a busy little port and market town. It is given a bishop.

1179 Aberdeen is given a charter (a document giving the people certain rights). Aberdeen has a population of around 3,000.

1264 Aberdeen now has a castle

1221 Black friars arrive in Aberdeen

1336 The English burn Aberdeen

1350 The Black Death reaches Aberdeen

1363 A leper hostel if founded outside Aberdeen

1450 The population of Aberdeen is about 4,000

1495 Kings College is founded

1545 Provost Skene’s House is built

1593 Marischal College is founded

1644 The Marquis of Montrose and his men plunder Aberdeen

1647 Plague strikes Aberdeen

1686 The Market Cross is built

1721 The streets of Aberdeen are lit by oil lamps

1741 The Royal Infirmary is built

1775 The Robert Gordon Institute of Technology opens

1780 North Pier is built

1801 Aberdeen has a population of 27,000

1817 St Andrew’s Episcopal Cathedral is built

1823 Bon Accord Square is laid out

1824 Aberdeen gains gas street light

1850 The railway reaches Aberdeen

1860 Kings and Marischal Colleges join to find Aberdeen University

1871 Victoria Park is laid out

1874 City Hospital opens

1883 Duthie Park is laid out

1885 An Art Gallery is built in Aberdeen

1888 The Wallace statue is erected

1894 The first electricity generating station in Aberdeen opens

1899 Electric trams begin running

1901 Westburn Park is laid out

1908 Aberdeen gains its first cinema

1938 The Northern Hotel opens

1940 Bon Accord swimming pool is built

1967 St Nicholas House is built

1971 Granite production in Aberdeen ends

1975 The first North Sea oil arrives in Aberdeen

1982 The Fish Market is built

1984 Trinity Centre opens

1990 The Bon Accord Shopping Centre opens

1994 Telford Dock is rebuilt

1996 Aberdeen is made a unitary authority

1997 The Maritime Museum and the Gordon Highlanders Museum open