Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire , England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately 27 miles 43 km north of Liverpool and 14 miles 23 km west of Preston.
It is the main settlement in the borough of the same name. Blackpool was originally a small hamlet; it began to grow in the mid-eighteenth century, when sea bathing for health purposes became fashionable. Blackpool's beach was suitable for this activity, and by several hotels had been built.
The opening of a railway station in allowed more visitors to reach the resort, which continued to grow for the remainder of the nineteenth century. In , the town became a borough. Blackpool's development was closely tied to the Lancashire cotton-mill practice of annual factory maintenance shutdowns, known as wakes weeks , when many workers chose to visit the seaside. The town saw large growth during the late Victorian and Edwardian periods. By its population had reached , In the late 20th century, changing holiday preferences and increased overseas travel impacted Blackpool's standing as a leading resort.
Despite economic challenges, the town's urban fabric and economy remain centred around tourism. Today, Blackpool's seafront, featuring landmarks such as Blackpool Tower , Illuminations , Pleasure Beach , and the Winter Gardens , continue to draw millions of visitors annually. The population of Blackpool at the census was ,, a decrease of 1, in ten years. In , a 13,year-old elk skeleton was found with man-made barbed bone points.
Now displayed in the Harris Museum this provided the first evidence of humans living on the Fylde. Some of the earliest villages on the Fylde, which were later to become part of Blackpool town, were named in the Domesday Book in In medieval times Blackpool emerged as a few farmsteads on the coast within Layton-with-Warbreck, the name coming from "le pull", a stream that drained Marton Mere and Marton Moss into the sea.
