The area was rural until the 20th century, a large wagon works was established in the 1920s, with housing development starting at the same time.

The wagon works closed in the 1960s and further industrial and commercial development took place expanding from the brownfield site.

The modern suburb is bounded by the former Stockton and Darlington Railway (now part of the Tees Valley Line, also known as the Bishop Auckland branch line) to the east, and by the defunct Darlington and Barnard Castle Railway (later known as 'Darlington & Tebay branch') to the south.

[2] As of 2012 the area contain a mixture of housing (southwest), industrial estates (southeast), and farmland (north).

[11] The deserted medieval village of Whessoe was located on the northern fringe of the modern ward of Faverdale, between High Faverdale and Whessoe Grange farms; earthwork remains as well as medieval building remnants existed until demolition/bulldozing in the 1950s.

[20] In the first decade of the 21st century the former Darlington Chemical site and adjacent farmland was redeveloped, creating a 49 acres (0.20 km2) municipal estate "West Park", including housing, parkland, a hospital (West Park Hospital), and a school.

[19][21][22][23] In 2004 Argos began development of a large 730,000 sq ft (68,000 m2) distribution centre the Faverdale industrial estate.

[8] [24] An additional commercial development, a 60 acres (0.24 km2) industrial and logistics park, "Faverdale 58", proposed by St. Modwen Properties in 2008, is at a planning stage; the site is located west of the Bishop Auckland branch line, with potential rail access.