Blackhall Colliery was sunk by Horden Collieries Ltd. in 1909. The village that was to grow up around the coal mine now takes it's name from the colliery.

Ellington Colliery was opened in 1909 by the Ashington Coal Company.

168 men and boys were killed in an explosion at West Stanley Colliery on the 16th February 1909. The disaster was caused by a build-up of flammable gas (firedamp) propagated by coal dust. The miners were buried in a mass grave.

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The Queen Alexandra Bridge over the River Wear at Sunderland was officially opened by The Earl of Durham, on behalf of Queen Alexandra on the 10th of June, 1909. The bridge was built by Sir William Arrol between 1907 and 1909, and was originally built as a dual road and rail bridge (now road only). It was commissioned by the North Eastern Railway and the Sunderland Corporation to connect the coalfields of Annfield Plain and Washington with Sunderland's south docks. Prior to it's building there were two ferries which crossed the river here. The North Eastern Railway Act 1900 required that the bridge had clearance of 85 feet above high water level, in order not to hinder the local shipbuilding industry.

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Newcastle Suffragette, Kathleen Brown, was realsed from Holloway Prison in July 1909. She had been sentenced to to seven days solitary confinement after being ararested for throwing stones in a protest at Whitehall, and went on hunger strike in prison. A large group of supporters met her at Newcastle Central Station, bearing banners and carriages decorated in the suffragette colours of white, green and purple. Following a celebration tea at the Turks Head Hotel, she gave a speech to a large crowd at the Haymarket. 

Barnes Park in Sunderland was officially opened on the  6th of August 1909. The land around Barnes Burn had been purchased by the Borough of Sunderland for £8,500 in 1904.

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