Many stood on steps they had sponsored as an official ceremony and service took place to mark the completion of a massive restoration scheme.
The work was funded by people and organisations who paid £1,000 each to sponsor a step.
The Bishop of Whitby, the Right Rev Robert Ladds, blessed the steps as he and church officials climbed to the top..
The invited guests, many of whom had sponsored steps themselves, then packed into St Mary's Church for a ceremony of thanks.
At the top, where a plaque records whom each step is dedicated to, the steps were blessed by the bishop.
The event marked the culmination of the campaign by the Whitby Gazette and the church to raise £199,000 for the steps' restoration.
Those who gave £1,000 to sponsor a step were invited to the ceremony along with their friends and families.
Canon Edwin Newlyn thanked all those involved in the steps project including the Whitby Gazette, architects, contractors, members of the church and particularly those who had sponsored the steps.
He added: "We could have approached English Heritage, the Lottery or whatever but it seemed right to give the people of Whitby the chance to own their steps. Within 14 weeks we had more than 199 people and organisations. That really is a magnificent response from all of you and it means that you, the people of Whitby, once again own your steps."