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Aberdeen grew up as two separate burghs - Old Aberdeen at the mouth of the Don and New Aberdeen, a fishing and trading settlement where the Denburn entered the Dee estuary. The earliest charter was granted by King William the Lion about 1179, confirming the corporate rights granted by David I. The city received other royal charters later. In 1319, the Great Charter of Robert the Bruce transformed Aberdeen into a property owning and financially independent community. Bruce had a high regard for the citizens of Aberdeen who had sheltered him in his days of outlawry, helped him win the Battle of Barra and slayed the English garrison at the Castle. He granted Aberdeen with the nearby Forest of Stocket. The income from this land has formed the basis for the city's Common Good Fund, which is used to this day for the benefit of all Aberdonians.
The city was burned by Edward III of England in 1336, but was soon rebuilt and extended, and called New Aberdeen. For many centuries the city was subject to attacks by the neighbouring lords, and was strongly fortified, but the gates were all removed by 1770. In 1497 a blockhouse was built at the harbour mouth as a protection against the English. During the Scottish Civil War of 1644-47 between the Royalists and Covenanters the city was impartially plundered by both sides. In 1644, it was taken and sacked by Royalist troops comprising of Irishmen and Highlanders after the battle of Aberdeen. In 1715 the Earl Marischal proclaimed the Old Pretender at Aberdeen, and in 1745 the Duke of Cumberland resided for a short time in the city before attacking the Young Pretender.
In the 18th century a new Town Hall was built, elegantly furnished with a marble fireplace from Holland and a set of fine crystal chandeliers and sconces. The latter are still a feature in the Town House. This century also saw the beginnings of social services for the Infirmary at Woolmanhill which was opened in 1742 and the Lunatic Asylum in 1779.
The 19th century was a time of considerable expansion. By 1901 the population was 153,000 and the city covered more than 6,000 acres (24 kmē). In the late 18th century, the council embarked on a scheme of road improvements, and by 1805 George Street, King Street and Union Street were open, the latter a feat of extraordinary engineering skill involving the partial levelling of St Catherine's Hill and the building of arches to carry the street over Putachieside. The Denburn Valley was crossed by Union Street with a single span arch of 130 ft (40 m). Along these new streets was built the nucleus of the Granite City in buildings designed by John Smith and Archibald Simpson.
The increasing economic importance of Aberdeen and the development of the shipbuilding and fishing industries brought a need for improved harbour facilities. During this century much of the harbour as it exists today was built including Victoria Dock, the South Breakwater and the extension to the North Pier. Such an expensive building programme had, of course, repercussions, and in 1817 the city was in a state of bankruptcy. However, a recovery was made in the general prosperity which followed the Napoleonic wars. Improvements in street lighting came in 1824 with the advent of gas, and a vast improvement was made to the water supply in 1830 when water was pumped from the Dee to a reservoir in Union Place. An underground sewerage system was begun in 1865 to replace the open sewers which previously ran along certain of the streets.
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 Union Street
Union Street
 Aberdeen Market Cross
Aberdeen Market Cross
 Marischal College as seen from Upperkirkgate
Amongst the notable buildings in the street are the Town and County Bank, the Music Hall 1822, the Trinity Hall of the incorporated trades (originating between 1398 and 1527), now a shopping mall; the Palace Hotel; the former office of the Northern Assurance Company, and the National Bank of Scotland.
In Castle Street, a continuation eastwards of Union Street, is the Town House, the headquarters of the city council. One of the most splendid granite edifices in Scotland, in the Franco-Scottish Gothic style, it contains the great hall, with an open timber ceiling and oak-panelled walls; the Sheriff Court House; the Town and County Hall, with portraits of Sir Robert Davidson, who fought in the Battle of Harlaw in 1411. On the south-western corner is the 210 ft (64 m) grand tower, which commands a fine view of the city and surrounding country. Adjoining the Town House is the old North of Scotland Bank building, in Greek Revival style. This building is now a pub named the Archibald Simpson, after its original architect. On the opposite side of the street is the fine building of the Union Bank.
At the upper end of Castlegate stands The Salvation Army Citadel, an effective castellated mansion, on the site of the medieval castle. In front of it is the Market Cross, built in 1686 by John Montgomery, a native architect. This open-arched structure, 21 ft (6 m) in diameter and 18 ft (5 m) high, comprises a large hexagonal base from the centre of which rises a shaft with a Corinthian capital, on which is the royal unicorn. The base is highly decorated, including medallions illustrating Scottish monarchs from James I to James VII. To the east of Castle Street were the military barracks, which were demolished in 1965 and replaced with two tower blocks.
Marischal College on Broad Street, opened by King Alexander Marshall Mackenzie, a native of Aberdeen, adapted his material, white granite, to the design of the building with the originality of genius. This magnificent building is sadly no longer a seat of learning and is under renovation as the new home of Aberdeen City Council.
There are no tramways in Aberdeen. The last tram went through the streets on May 3, 1958. All trams except one were scrapped. The last tram is on display in the Transport Museum in Alford, Aberdeenshire.
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The first of Aberdeen's two universities, King's College, was founded in 1495 by William Elphinstone (1431-1514), Bishop of Aberdeen and Chancellor of Scotland. Marischal College was founded in New Aberdeen by George Keith, 5th Earl Marischal of Scotland in 1593. These foundations were amalgamated to form the present University of Aberdeen in 1860. King's and Marischal were Scotland's third and fifth oldest universities respectively, and the fifth and seventh oldest in Britain as a whole.
Robert Gordon's College (originally Robert Gordon's Hospital) was founded in 1729 by the merchant Robert Gordon, grandson of the map maker Robert Gordon of Straloch, and was further endowed in 1816 by Alexander Simpson of Collyhill. Originally devoted to the instruction and maintenance of the sons of poor burgesses of guild and trade in the city, it was reorganized in 1881 as a day and night school for secondary and technical education, and in the 1990s became co-educational and a day-only school. It also produced the Robert Gordon Institute of Technology, which in 1992 became The Robert Gordon University.
Gray's School of Art, founded in 1886, is one of the oldest established colleges of art in the UK. It is situated in beautiful grounds at Garthdee on the edge of the city. It is now incorporated into Robert Gordon University.
Aberdeen College has several campuses in Aberdeen and offers a wide variety of part-time and full-time courses leading to several different qualifications. It the largest further education institution in Scotland.
Northern College was a teacher training college with campuses in Aberdeen and Dundee. In 2000, the Aberdeen campus of Northern College became the University of Aberdeen School of Education.
Aberdeen Grammar School, (now comprehensive, despite its name) founded in 1263 and one of the oldest schools in Britain, was removed in 1861-1863 from its old quarters in Schoolhill to a large new building, in the Scottish baronial style, off Skene Street. One famous alumnus of the Grammar School is Lord Byron.
There are 12 secondary schools and 54 primary schools which are run by the city council in the city. There are also a small number of private schools. Albyn School for Girls (co-ed as of 2006) and St Margaret's girls school, both in the beautiful granite Queen's Road area just West of the city centre, are two of the better private schools in Scotland. There's also a small French-language school (one of the few in Britain) catering to the oil industry families, an "IB" International school, and a Steiner school.
At Blairs, in Kincardineshire, five miles (8 km) S.W. of Aberdeen, is St Mary's Roman Catholic College, currently (2006) disused, built for the training of young men intended for the priesthood, with plans to turn it into a hotel.
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Duthie Park 50 acres (202,000 mē)), situated on Riverside Drive, was named after and gifted to the city by Miss Elizabeth Crombie Duthie of Ruthrieston in 1881 and opened by Princess Beatrice on 27 September 1883. It occupies an excellent site on the north bank of the Dee and includes extensive gardens, a rose hill, boating pond, bandstand, and play area as well as the David Welch Winter Gardens. First opened in 1899, the Winter Gardens were rebuilt in 1970 following storm damage and extended. They are Europe's largest indoor gardens and one of the most visited in Scotland.
Victoria Park 13 acres (53,000 mē) opened in 1871, is a beautiful park situated in the north-western area. There is a conservatory used as a seating area and a fountain made of 14 different granites, presented to the people by the granite polishers and master builders of Aberdeen.
Westburn Park 13 acres (53,000 mē) opposite Victoria Park, caters for football and tennis, has a children's cycle track and a play area. An open section of the Westburn runs through the park.
Stewart Park (15 acres (61,000 mē) opened in 1894. The park was named after a former Lord Provost of the city, Sir David Stewart; a section is reserved for cricket and football.
Hazlehead Park is a large, heavily wooded park on the outskirts of the city. It is popular with sports enthusiasts, walkers, naturalists and picnickers. Around the park are football pitches, two golf courses, pitch and putt course, a horseriding school and woods for walking. The park has a significant collection of sculpture by a range of artists and heritage items which have been rescued from various places within the city. It also features Scotland's oldest maze, first planted in 1938.
Aberdeen Beach/Queen's Links is a well-loved and extremely popular recreational area of the city, visited by holidaymakers and city residents all year round. The area is well provided with sporting and recreational facilities, including the Beach Leisure Centre and the Lynx Ice Arena, cafes, restaurants, a fun fair, a multiplex cinema, a nightclub and other attractions.
Johnston Gardens is also a great park worth visiting. Situated behind Queen's Road and just beside Nellfield Terrace. It hosts many different types of flowers and plants which have been renowned for their beauty. Johnston Gardens also won many 'Britain in Bloom' competitions. Aberdeen itself has won the title of best city 'In Bloom' for 9 nine years in a row.
Seaton Park (270,000 mē) is located in the north of the city and was purchased by the Council in 1947 from Major Hay. Beside the park's south gates stands St Machar's Cathedral. There are flowerbeds and a walled garden beside the old stables, which have been converted for housing. The Cathedral Walk is always a resplendent sight in midsummer and one of the most popular with visitors to the city. Seaton Park is also an access point for the River Don and there is a walk from the park to the city boundary.
Union Terrace Gardens form a popular rendezvous in the heart of the city.
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The Dee is crossed by a number of bridges, from west to east:
Bridge of Dee
King George VI Bridge
Railway bridge
Wellington Suspension Bridge
Queen Elizabeth II Bridge
Victoria Bridge
Until 1832, the only access to the city from the south was the Bridge of Dee. It consists of seven semicircular ribbed arches, is about 30 ft (10 m) high, and was built early in the 16th century by Bishops Elphinstone and Dunbar. It was nearly all rebuilt 1718-1723, and in 1842 was widened from 14 to 26 ft (4 to 8 m). This was the site of a battle in 1639 between the Royalists under Viscount Aboyne and the Covenanters who were led by the Marquis of Montrose.
The Bridge of Don has five granite arches, each 75 ft (23 m) in span, and was built 1827-1832. A little to the west is the Auld Brig o' Balgownie, a picturesque single arch spanning the deep black stream, said to have been built by King Robert I, and celebrated by George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron in the tenth canto of "Don Juan".
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Owing to the variety and importance of its chief industries Aberdeen is one of the most prosperous cities in Scotland. Very durable grey granite was quarried at Rubislaw quarry for more than 300 years, and blocked and dressed paving "setts", kerb and building stones, and monumental and other ornamental work of granite have long been exported from the district to all parts of the world. Quarrying finally ceased in 1971.
This, though once the predominant industry, was surpassed by the deep-sea fisheries, which derived a great impetus from improved technologies throughout the twentieth century. Lately, however, catches have fallen due to overfishing in previous years, and the use of the harbour by oil support vessels. Aberdeen remains an important fishing port, but the catch landed there is now eclipsed by the more northerly ports of Peterhead and Fraserburgh. The Fisheries Research Service is based in Aberdeen, including its headquarters and a marine research lab.
Most of the leading pre-1970s industries date from the 18th century, amongst them woollens (1703), linen (1749), and cotton (1779). These gave employment to several thousands of operatives. The paper-making industry is one of the most famous and oldest in the city, paper having been first made in Aberdeen in 1694. Flax-spinning and jute and combmaking factories also flourished, along with successful foundries and engineering works.
In the days of wooden ships ship-building was a flourishing industry, the town being noted for its fast clippers, many of which established records in the "tea races". The introduction of trawling revived this to some extent, and despite the distance of the city from the iron fields there was a fair yearly output of iron vessels. The last major shipbuilder in Aberdeen, Hall Russells, closed in the late 1980's.
With the discovery of significant oil deposits in the North Sea during the late twentieth century, Aberdeen became the centre of Europe's petroleum industry, with the port serving oil rigs off-shore. The number of jobs created by the energy industry in and around Aberdeen has been estimated at half a million. In 1988, the city was dealt a heavy blow by the loss-of-life suffered during an explosion and fire aboard one such rig, the Piper Alpha.
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Aberdeen Football Club was founded in 1903. Its major success was winning the European Cup Winners Cup in 1983 and three League Championships between 1980 and 1986, under the current Manchester United F.C. manager Alex Ferguson. The club's stadium is Pittodrie which holds the distinction of being Britain's first all-seater stadium.
Aberdeen F.C. holds the distinction of being the last team to have won the Scottish Premier League Championship outside the Old Firm and is the only Scottish team to have won two European trophies adding to their European Cup Winners Cup success by winning the European Super Cup also in 1983.
Well known footballers who have played for the club include Gordon Strachan (Current Celtic manager), Alex McLeish (Current Rangers manager) and club legend Willie Miller. Denis Law, the joint top scorer for the Scotland national team was also born in the city, but spent his professional career playing for English and Italian clubs.
Aberdeen Golf Club was founded in 1815. It has two 18-hole courses at Balgownie, north of the River Don. There are other golf courses at Auchmill, Balnagask, Hazlehead and King's Links.
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