Historically, the town was part of the county of Lincolnshire, and remains part of the ceremonial county today. Within Lincolnshire, the town was mostly in the wapentake of Yarborough in the North Riding of Lindsey. Local government in the town began with the establishment of a local government board in 1864, which was replaced with an urban district in 1894. On the creation of Humberside in 1974, the town's urban district was merged with the surrounding rural district to create Glanford borough, named after the town which was at its centre. The dissolution of Humberside in 1996 saw the town transferred to North Lincolnshire.