PLAINS

Plains has its origins in the growth of the mining industry.  The men of Whiterigg, Meadowhead, Ballochney, Arden and Stanrigg all working in the pits - the last of which closed over 25 years ago. In the early 1860's the population of Plains was just over 200 people.  The town grew in tandem with the area's mining industry.  In the early 1980's the population had grown to over 3,000.

View of Plains Main Street taken around 1905.