Another royal charter in 1488, from James III of Scotland granted Alyth the status of Burgh of Barony entitled to stage markets and fairs.

Steam power also brought the Alyth Railway to the town in 1861, accompanied by growth during the later 19th century in retailing along with hotels for holidaymakers, golfers and country sports enthusiasts.

In late medieval times Scottish kings used the nearby Forest of Alyth[6] for hunting during their progress around the country.

[11] During the years of civil and religious conflict in the mid-17th century, the town was the scene of a dramatic incident known as the ‘Onfall of Alyth’ (28 August 1651).

The town had been chosen as the rendezvous for the Committee of Estates, effectively the Scottish government at that time, to organise resistance to the English Parliamentarian invasion forces under General Monck, then besieging Dundee.

In the 18th century, Alyth became heavily involved in flax processing for the linen textile industry, and spinning and especially hand-loom weaving dominated local employment.

The current parish church building, completed in 1839 to the design of Edinburgh architect Thomas Hamilton, dominates the skyline of the town.

Inside the church is the funerary hatchment of Sir George Ramsay (sixth baronet of Bamff) who was killed in a duel at Musselburgh, in April 1790 - one of the last duelling deaths in Scotland.

It was captured in 1810 from a French frigate taken by HMS Horatio and was sent as a gift to Alyth by John Warden, a son of the owner of the Bamff Arms, who served on the ship.

[16] Across the road from the entrance to the Alyth Arches stands the town's old mercat cross,[17] which served as a symbolic representation of the right to hold a regular market or fair.

The main annual market was held on St Moluag's name day (25 June) every year in the vicinity of the church and nearby Woolmarket.

[18] In the middle of the new Pitcrocknie housing development on the north east edge of the town, is a fine example of a late Neolithic or early Bronze Age Standing Stone.

Another nearby early medieval feature is a Pictish 'Class I' symbol stone in a field on Bruceton Farm somewhat to the east of Alyth.

A late British Iron Age souterrain was excavated by a team of Headland Archaeology[21] in Shanzie Farm, c 3.5. north-east of Alyth.

The town is the second largest settlement within Ward 2 (Strathmore) of Perth & Kinross Council, which is currently (2020) represented by four councillors - two Conservative, one SNP and one Liberal Democrat.

The underlying geology is Devonian-age Old Red Sandstone (c. 400 million years old) overlain by glacial deposits left behind by the Pleistocene ice ages.

The town is the only significant built-up area within the Alyth Community Council boundaries, most of which is upland pasture and grouse moor or lowland arable land.

Just under 33 hectares (82 acres) of the Den are designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), important for its upland mixed ash woodland.

[30] It is also part of the River Tay Special Area of Conservation, designated for its importance to Atlantic Salmon, otter and various species of lamprey.

[31] Alyth Den includes a number of abandoned quarries which provided much of the stone for buildings within the town in earlier times.

[35] Tourism accommodation, construction, retail, property, education and the motor trades are the main employment sectors, with smaller but still significant proportions in the arts, business admin and health.

[36] Alyth has a more diverse retail sector and more people per shop than similar towns in Scotland, and also more tourist beds per head of population.

There is an active Alyth Family History Project, based at the Parish Church since 2009, which has assembled a large archive of photographs and genealogical records.

The original nine-hole course was designed by Old Tom Morris of St. Andrews and was modified and extended to 18 holes by James Braid in 1934.

The foundation stone was laid by the Earl of Airlie on 2 September 1886 and Alyth Town Hall opened on 29 April 1887.

Designed by Andrew Heiton of Perth, The Hall is built from local redstone with white freestone at all the corners and windows.

[59] Alyth Parish Church (completed in 1839) is notable for its unusually high steeple, visible from many parts of the town and from the roads and fields surrounding it.

[63] Located beside this is the memorial to Alfred Anderson, who was the last surviving Scottish veteran of WW1, last survivor of the Christmas Truce of 1914, and Scotland's oldest man when he died in 2005.

[66] Five miles (eight kilometres) north of Alyth, on the River Isla, is the spectacular waterfall of Reekie Linn, from the Gaelic for "misty pool".

The site of the former railway station, now occupied by housing, is remembered in the name Mart Street, where livestock auctions were held after they moved from the Market Muir.