Until the last quarter of the 19th century Chorlton's population had increased slowly.
When the railway reached neighbouring Stretford in 1849, upmarket villas were built on a flood-free area in Edge Lane and High Lane.
Wilbraham Road was built in 1869 to connect the Egerton holdings across Withington from Edge Lane to Fallowfield.
The Midland Railway built a line from Manchester Central through Chorlton station which opened on 1 January 1880.
Over the following decade land close to the station was developed for residential and commercial purposes centred on the Barlow Moor Road/Wilbraham Road crossroads, northeast of the old village centre.
Houses built in the 1880s attracted more affluent residents who worked in Manchester city centre to high quality homes in a more rural area.

Irish immigrants came to work in the expanding industries of Manchester, in small-scale horticulture and farming and domestic service.
They brought Roman Catholicism, and by the first decade of the 20th century a church and convent school had been established on High Lane.

Further growth was aided by the arrival of Manchester Corporation's tramway before the First World War: a terminus was built on Barlow Moor Road a short distance south of the junction with High Lane.
Chorltonville was developed as a garden suburb south of Chorlton Brook: the houses are mostly large and semi-detached and individual in design, standing on tree-lined roads.
Alexandra Park Aerodrome (1917–24), was Manchester's first major airfield located east of the Midland Railway overbridge on Mauldeth Road West.

After the First World War came a period of residential development to the east of the new village either side of Wilbraham Road and a council housing estate at Merseybank.
The Ashby, a two-seater light car, was produced in Chorlton-cum-Hardy by Victor Ashby and Son from 1922 to 1924.

From the 1960s onwards a council estate at Nell Lane near Southern Cemetery and patchy redevelopment in other areas were completed.
There has been immigration particularly from the Indian subcontinent and from Poland; the Polish community arrived in the 1950s and 1960s.
Until the last quarter of the 19th century Chorlton's population had increased slowly. When the railway reached neighbouring Stretford in 1849, upmarket villas were built on a flood-free area in Edge Lane and High Lane. Wilbraham Road was built in 1869 to connect the Egerton holdings across Withington from Edge Lane to Fallowfield. The Midland Railway built a line from Manchester Central through Chorlton station which opened on 1 January 1880. Over the following decade land close to the station was developed for residential and commercial purposes centred on the Barlow Moor Road/Wilbraham Road crossroads, northeast of the old village centre. Houses built in the 1880s attracted more affluent residents who worked in Manchester city centre to high quality homes in a more rural area.
Irish immigrants came to work in the expanding industries of Manchester, in small-scale horticulture and farming and domestic service. They brought Roman Catholicism, and by the first decade of the 20th century a church and convent school had been established on High Lane.
Further growth was aided by the arrival of Manchester Corporation's tramway before the First World War: a terminus was built on Barlow Moor Road a short distance south of the junction with High Lane. Chorltonville was developed as a garden suburb south of Chorlton Brook: the houses are mostly large and semi-detached and individual in design, standing on tree-lined roads. Alexandra Park Aerodrome (1917–24), was Manchester's first major airfield located east of the Midland Railway overbridge on Mauldeth Road West.
After the First World War came a period of residential development to the east of the new village either side of Wilbraham Road and a council housing estate at Merseybank. The Ashby, a two-seater light car, was produced in Chorlton-cum-Hardy by Victor Ashby and Son from 1922 to 1924.
From the 1960s onwards a council estate at Nell Lane near Southern Cemetery and patchy redevelopment in other areas were completed. There has been immigration particularly from the Indian subcontinent and from Poland; the Polish community arrived in the 1950s and 1960s.
Chorlton-cum-Hardy