Sheep farms and wool-making flourished across Yorkshire in the 16th and 17th centuries, with coal mining expanding in Yorkshire's West Riding. The Industrial Revolution also came to Yorkshire -- turnpike roads and canals were built 1780 to 1790, and several railway networks were introduced. Tourism came to Yorkshire from 1800 on, when the curative powers of mineral waters in the towns of Scarborough and Harrogate caused them to prosper as tourist destinations and spa resorts.

Heavy urbanization and industrialization came to Yorkshire in the 19th Century, affecting several existing industries -- for example, the textile industry in Yorkshire was the first to use machinery originally developed for the cotton industry. One worker-friendly example of modern industry can be found in the heritage village of Saltaire in West Yorkshire.

Saltaire, a workers village, was founded in 1853 by Sir Titus Salt, a leader in the wool industry in Yorkshire. The village's name is a combination of his name with the River Aire, which flowed through the village. Sir Titus wanted to provide better facilities for the workers in his mills than had been available in the mill's previous site, Bradford. So, he built many useful types of buildings for his worker village: small individual stone homes for the workers, many washhouses and bath houses (with running water), and a hospital. There were recreational facilities: a park, a boathouse, a gymnasium, a library and reading room, a billiard room, and a hall for concerts. Salt also provided a school for the children of the workers, an almshouse for the poor, and allotments for the elderly.

By way of contrast, steel mills in Yorkshire involved unpleasant working conditions with very few safety mechanisms, and long working hours. Friedrich Engels accurately described the steel mills in Sheffield in his 1844 book, "The Condition of the Working Class in England." Soon after, Sheffield became a center for trade union agitation in the UK. In 1860, the 'Sheffield Outrages', a series of explosions and murders carried out by union militants, erupted, exacerbating the long-standing conflicts between labor and management. One of the more peaceful results was the organization of the Sheffield Trades Council in 1866, a forerunner of the current Trades Union Congress.

There were several severe outbreaks of cholera in Yorkshire in 1832 and 1848, but modern sewers, water supplies, and hygienic municipal advances completed by 1900 forestalled the recurrence of any more epidemics.

Many residents of Yorkshire served as English soldiers during the Great War, 1915 through 1918, in regiments filled with volunteers from the North, East and West of Yorkshire, named for those locations. After the war, many monuments were built, both in York and other cities, for those who had given their lives for their country.
During the Second World War, 1939 through 1945, Yorkshire was an important base for RAF Bomber Command.

Yorkshire has continued on through the 20th century, and on into the 21st century, still named Yorkshire -- given the many names Yorkshire has had, this continuity of name might be considered an accomplishment in itself.

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