Haverton Hill was a product of the industrial revolution of Teesside. Within a few short years an extensively rural area was transformed into an urban conurbation. Seagull and clean air quickly gave way to flame and smoke. The river certainly helped feed and pay the startling rise in population through trade, but it was the railway penetrating across field and marsh which was father to the region.

The following advertisement warned of the enterprise to come: "Notice is hereby given, to make and maintain a branch railway or tram-road with all proper works and conveniences, from out of the Stockton and Darlington (S&D) railway at Stockton, to the River Tees near Haverton Hill, passing through the townships of Hartburn, Stockton, Norton, and Billingham".