[1] Stepney is an urban area, mostly housing, with shopping and services along the main road, and some light industry.

[10][11] The name "Stepney" is thought to derive from "Stepping Stone" or "Stepstone", from the presence of a mounting block near the place.

A station, west of the Hull to Beverley road, Stepney station, designed by William Botterill opened at the same time;[22][23] Pearson Park opened 1862; and in 1869 the 1849 Methodist chapel was replaced by a larger red and white brick gothic building to the design of W. Hill of Leeds,[17] demolished c. 1982.

The building had a two main story block with attics and an octagonal bell turret/lantern providing ventilation, with boys accommodated on the ground floor and girls on the first; infants were housed in a separate department.

[29] The Hull Street Tramways opened a horse operated tram route on Beverley Road in 1875.

[note 4][30] South of the railway line on Beverley Road the Northern Library opened in 1895 in a gothic brick design.

[33] Beverley Road Baths opened in 1905 adjacent north of the 1886 Stepney school in an Edwardian Baroque design with a copper dome octagonal cupola, and an Art Nouveau tiled entrance hall within.

[43] The former "Coliseum" cinema (later the Rialto; and after the Second World War The National) closed in 1961 and became a bowling alley, but burnt down in 1974.

[note 1] In 1976 General Accident built office buildings on Beverley Road south of the former station.

[48][note 5] A housing development for Chinese people was built on Park Lane opposite the Bull Inn c. 1995.

[50] A combined medical centre and supermarket with car park and takeaway restaurant was developed on the site of the former "General Accident" building in 2002.