Blackpool was a municipal borough from 1876 until 1904 when it became a county borough;[10] on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, the county borough of Blackpool was reconstituted as a non-metropolitan district with the same boundaries as the county borough.[11][12] Until 1998, Blackpool was administered as part of Lancashire County Council which was based in Preston. After the creation of unitary authorities by the government, Blackpool and Blackburn were successful in gaining their own right to govern independent from the county council. Blackpool gained unitary authority status,[13] as did Blackburn and it was renamed "Blackburn with Darwen". As of 2021[update] these are the only two unitary authorities in Lancashire although they remain part of Lancashire for ceremonial purposes.