Ingram Street is a major thoroughfare in the city of

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, the largest city in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. The street runs east from Queen Street through the

Merchant City The Merchant City, a new name introduced through urban renewal by the Scottish Development Agency and the city council in the 1980s is one part of the metropolitan central area of Glasgow. It commences at George Square and goes eastwards reachin ...

until it meets

High Street High Street is a common street name for the primary business street of a city, town, or village, especially in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth. It implies that it is the focal point for business, especially shopping. It is also a metonym fo ...

History

The street was formerly known as Back Cow Lone. Lone or Loan being an old Scots word for a cattle track or lane, which then also became used as a street name.

Re-naming of the street

Back Cow Lone was re-named to Ingram Street in 1781. The street was re-named in honour of

Archibald Ingram Archibald Ingram (1699–1770) was an 18th-century tobacco lord who served as Lord Provost of Glasgow from 1762 to 1764. Ingram Street in the city centre was named in his honour in 1781. Life He was born in or near Glasgow in 1699. He began ...

, a

Tobacco Lord The Tobacco Lords were a group of Scottish people, Scottish merchants and slave traders who in the 18th century made enormous fortunes by International trade, trading in tobacco. Many became so wealthy that they adopted the lifestyle of aristocr ...

, who became Lord Provost of Glasgow in the 1760s.

Landmarks

At the western end of the street at the junction with Queen Street is the Gallery of Modern Art in

Royal Exchange Square The Royal Exchange Square is a public square in Glasgow, Scotland. The square lies between Buchanan Street and Queen Street, opening out Queen Street and Ingram Street to the south of George Square. It is also easily accessible from Buchanan ...

. There are several local landmarks on Ingram Street itself, such as the Italian Centre, the old Sheriff Court, Ramshorn Theatre, the

Hutchesons' Hall Hutchesons' Hall is an early nineteenth-century building in Ingram Street, in the centre of Glasgow, Scotland. It is owned and maintained by the Rusk Company and National Trust for Scotland, and is a category A listed building. The current build ...

and the amongst others. Ingram Street has, in recent years, became a haven for upmarket retailers such as

Polo Ralph Lauren Ralph Lauren Corporation is an American publicly traded fashion company that was founded in 1967 by American fashion designer Ralph Lauren. The company is headquartered in New York City, producing products ranging from the mid-range to the luxur ...

, who operate their only UK only store outwith

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

on Ingram Street.

United Colors of Benetton Benetton Group S.r.l. () is a global fashion brand based in Ponzano Veneto, Italy, founded in 1965. Benetton Group has a network of about 5,000 stores worldwide. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Benetton family's holding company Edizio ...

Mulberry ''Morus'', a genus of flowering plants in the family Moraceae, consists of diverse species of deciduous trees commonly known as mulberries, growing wild and under cultivation in many temperate world regions. Generally, the genus has 64 identif ...

GANT Gant may refer to: * Gant (surname) * Gant (retailer), an international brand of clothing and accessories Places * Gant, Poland * Gánt, a village in Hungary * Gant, the Catalan name for Ghent, Belgium Entertainment * 187 Lockdown, a 1990s Briti ...

, Crombie,

Bose Bose may refer to: * Bose (crater), a lunar crater * ''Bose'' (film), a 2004 Indian Tamil film starring Srikanth and Sneha * Bose (surname), a surname (and list of people with the name) * Bose, Italy, a ''frazioni'' in Magnano, Province of Biella ...

and

Jigsaw Jigsaw may refer to: * Jigsaw (tool), a tool used for cutting arbitrary curves * Jigsaw puzzle, a tiling puzzle that requires the assembly of interlocking pieces Arts and media Comics * Jigsaw (Marvel Comics), a supervillain and arch-enemy of ...

among others also have stores on the street, with Brora expected to open in September 2017. Pretty Green opened their first permanent store on Ingram Street after the success of their

pop-up store Pop-up retail, also known as pop-up store (pop-up shop in the UK, Australia and Ireland) or flash retailing, is a trend of opening short-term sales spaces that last for days to weeks before closing down, often to catch onto a fad or scheduled e ...

Public transport

As a street which operates in two directions, unlike many in central Glasgow which are either one-way or fully pedestrianised, Ingram Street forms an important part of the city's taxi and

bus corridor Bus rapid transit (BRT), also called a busway or transitway, is a bus-based public transport system designed to have much more capacity, reliability and other quality features than a conventional bus system. Typically, a BRT system includes ...

network.

Controversy

Many of the Tobacco Lords profited from the use of slaves to pick their tobacco crop. As part of the

Black Lives Matter Black Lives Matter (abbreviated BLM) is a decentralized political and social movement that seeks to highlight racism, discrimination, and racial inequality experienced by black people. Its primary concerns are incidents of police bruta ...

campaign in 2020, many of Glasgow's streets in the Merchant City area - named after the Tobacco Lords - were unofficially renamed by anti-racism protesters. The protesters placed alternative street names celebrating prominent black men and women alongside the official street names. Ingram Street was alternatively named

Harriet Tubman Harriet Tubman (born Araminta Ross, March 10, 1913) was an American abolitionist and social activist. Born into slavery, Tubman escaped and subsequently made some 13 missions to rescue approximately 70 slaves, including family and friends, us ...

Street, after the celebrated abolitionist.https://twitter.com/Liam_O_Hare/status/1268955830948368385/photo/2

References

External links

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