Hebden Bridge is a busy modern tourist centre. Along the valley bottom runs a tight main road, and the town's streets spread onto the hillsides. Until the early 19th century the community was based at Heptonstall, high on the hillside, where there were farmers and handloom weavers. The centre of activity came down into the valley during the Industrial Revolution. The river was harnessed to power the cotton mills of the Calder and its tributaries. The mill workers lived in the double-decked terrace houses on the hills above the town. Here, as throughout the Pennines, a massive industrial base developed, supplying cotton and woollen products across the world. Hebden's speciality was the fustian trade, thick cotton cloth used to make corduroy.