Howard Pit is marked on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1865. It was part of Netherton Colliery which opened before 1828.

NEHL - Netherton Colliery was an incredibly old working, though was closed for a period in the latter half of the 19th century. The earliest view we find of the Howard Pit is from the late 1850s when it was connected to both the Netherton Waggonway from Morpeth and the Blyth & Tyne from Bedlington. It stood close next to the Francis Pit, its younger sibling, which accomodating newer housing terraces and a Methodist Chapel. The Howard Pit also featured a much earlier row, Howard Terrace, as well as the "Old Row" closer to the village.

It was disused by the 1890s alongside the Francis Pit, though the pit village had sprawled with at least 7 rows of housing which has all since demolished and reclaimed back to farmland. Small sections of the 19th century waggonway remains as earthworks, though mostly are not public rights of way.

Howard Pit had reopened by the 1920s along with the waggonway which connected to the Blyth & Tyne. The working was far more modern, and further infrastructure was incorporated into the village with a mission room, mechanics institute and social club erected around the pit. The working continued until the 1970s and has since been entirely cleared by a very enthusiastic landowner.

The colliery was also hit by a bombing raid in 1940, with the winding house almost entirely destroyed. This was when the Bedlington Coal Co. operated the site, just before nationalisation.