The existing stone bridge across the River Tees was built by Bishop Skirlaw of Durham in 1400. An iron replacement was built in 1805, but it fell down in 1806. Once a medieval port, for many years Yarm was at the tidal limit and head of navigation on the Tees.
On 12 February 1821 at the George & Dragon Inn, the meeting was held that pressed for the third, successful attempt for a Bill giving permission to build the Stockton & Darlington Railway, the world’s first public railway.
In 1890 Bulmer & Co listed 12 Inns in Yarm; Black Bull, Cross Keys, Crown Inn, Fleece, George and Dragon, Green Tree, Ketton Ox, Lord Nelson, Red Lion, Three Tuns, Tom Brown, and Union. Also listed was the Cross Keys beside the Leven Bridge.
Under the Local Government Act 1894, Yarm was part of Stokesley Rural District (in the 13th century it was a borough in its own right). On 1st April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, Yarm became part of the district of Stockton-on-Tees in the new non-metropolitan county of Cleveland, which was abolished in 1996 under the Banham Review, with Stockton-on-Tees becoming a unitary authority.
