Situated to the north of the city, Springburn grew and declined as the railways, and in particular the Cowlairs depot, grew and declined. In its heyday, Springburn employed over 8,000 men in locomotive building and exported to over 60 countries and was Britain's major railway centre. However with the onset of diesel and electric trains, and an inability to move with the times, the first of the builders, the North British Locomotive Co., closed and within 20 years, locomotives were no longer part of the industrial base of Springburn. The last of the works at St Rollox closed in 1988.
Demolition of tenement flats has left Springburn with few areas of housing, with the result that most of the resident population has moved to the high-rise flats of nearby Balornock.
In nearby Sighthill cemetery is a monument to John Baird and Andrew Hardie who were involved in the so-called Radical Rising of 1820.
