Ironstone was mined in the area as early as the Roman occupation, but the deposits lay forgotten until the 19th century. The rediscovery of iron ore resulted in the development of an iron and steel industry and rapid population growth.
Scunthorpe within Humberside
1974-1996
The nearby villages of Ashby, Brumby, Crosby ('by' derivation unknown, to me at least, is the Norse for 'field' and Frodingham (possibly 'Frodda's or Froda's farm' - 'ham' is ON for 'farm') were incorporated into the Borough of Scunthorpe in 1936. At that time Scunthorpe lay in the ancient county of Lincolnshire. Successive local authority boundary changes brought the town into the new County of Humberside in 1974. The opening of the Humber Bridge on 24th June 1981 provided a permanent link between North and South Humberside but did not secure Humberside's future. To the relief of its many detractors, the County of Humberside (and Humberside County Council) was abolished on 1st April 1996 and succeeded by four unitary authorities.
The existing authorities of Glanford and Scunthorpe, and that part of Boothferry district south of the northern boundaries of the parishes of Crowle, Eastoft, Luddington, Haldenby and Amcotts, now comprise the unitary authority of North Lincolnshire.
Despite decline in the 1980s, the steel industry is still the major employer, but there are now a variety of industries, including: electronics, food, plastics, and clothing.
The town is widely known for its football team, Scunthorpe United (nicknamed 'The Iron'). For most of its existence in the professional game (since 1950) it has been in the basement league of the English game.
It gained some Internet notoriety in 1996 when AOL's Obscenity filter (among others) refused to accept the name of the town, due to its inclusion of a character string which the filter rejected as obscene.