Sunderland changed after 1589 when Robert Bowes and John Smith started making salt there.   They also owned their own coal pit at Offerton.   They used the poor quality coal for evaporating sea water.  The better quality coal was exported to London and East Anglia. Bowes Quay was built for this purpose.   Soon Sunderland became famous for exporting coal.   It was second to Newcastle but exports of coal and salt grew rapidly.   There was also an industry making lime for fetiliser and building in the 17th century.   Alum and copperas were made in Sunderland and exported to be used in dyeing.   By the end of the 17th century there was a glass making industry in Sunderland.   The town grew rapidly.   By the mid 17th century Sunderland had a population of around 1,500. By 1700 the population of Sunderland, Monkwearmouth and Bishopwearmouth was about 5,000.

As the town was growing a new parish of Sunderland was created in 1712.   The church of the Holy Trinity was consecrated in 1719.   In 1717 a body of men called the Wear Commissioners was formed.   In 1723 they built a pier on the south bank of the Wear.   A pier was built on the north bank in 1797 (it was only the second bridge in the world to be made of iron).  The first bridge across the Wear was built in 1796. As well as a shipbuilding industry Sunderland had a ropemaking industry.   In 1798 for the first time a steam engine was used to power rope making equipment.

In 1801, at the time of the first census Sunderland had a population of 24,000, by the standards of the time it was a large town.   However the population soared in the 19th century.   By 1901 it had risen to 146,000.   The bridge over the Wear led to the growth of a middle class suburb north of the river.   In Sunderland itself horrid working class slums were created.

However, there were some improvements in the town during the 19th century.   Gas was first used to light the streets in 1824.   The first modern police force in Sunderland was created in 1837.   A network of sewers was built in the 1850s and 1860s.   The Theatre Royal was built in 1855.   Mowbray Park opened in 1857.   Sunderland museum, library, and art gallery opened in 1879.   The same year horse drawn trams began to run in the streets of the town.   Roker Park opened in 1880.   A town hall was built in 1890.   (It was followed by electricity in 1895).   During the 19th century shipmaking boomed in Sunderland and the town became world famous for this industry.   Exports of coal also boomed.   Monkwearmouth colliery, the first colliery actually inside the town opened in 1835.