A seaport suburb of Edinburgh, Granton lies on the Firth of Forth, 2½ miles (4 km) to the north of the city centre. Its development as a seaport dates from 1836 when the building of a harbour was initiated by Walter, 5th Duke of Buccleuch (1806-84) on his Caroline Park property. Designed by the engineer Robert Stevenson, the harbour provided an important link with Fife and the north, the world's first train-ferry, the Leviathan, operating between Granton and Burntisland from 1850. Designed by Sir Thomas Bouch (1822-90), builder of the ill-fated Tay Rail Bridge, the complex series of ramps created to load and unload carriages had to accommodate the sizeable tidal range of the Firth of Forth. A coaling jetty was built in 1937 and car and passenger ferry services continued until the building of the Forth Road Bridge in 1964. The home of the Royal Forth Yacht Club, Granton was once the base for a large fishing fleet. The Granton Gas Works industrial complex dates from 1898 for the production of gas for domestic consumption, its massive gasometers being erected in 1902, 1933 and 1966. It now receives gas from the North Sea and much the site has been redeveloped The redundant gasometers were demolished in 2004. Bruce Peebles built industrial electrical equipment here from 1904 to 1999 and was an important manufacturing plant during World War II, so much so that King George VI visited twice. The National Museums Collection Centre is located here.
Granton Quarry produced sandstone to build the breakwaters around the harbour, but became the first home of the Scottish Marine Station, founded by Sir John Murray (1841 - 1914), which later moved to Millport and then Dunstaffnage.
A raised beach behind the harbour is represented by a steep slope running parallel to the shore of the Firth of Forth, which connecting Granton, Wardie, Trinity and Newhaven.
