Historically part of the ancient parish of North Meols and entirely in Lancashire, most of Crossens was transferred to Merseyside on 1 April 1974, when local government boundaries were reorganised nationally.

A hospice or lodging house was sited in Crossens where travellers could rest after making the crossing.

It is also believed to be the point at which 2,000 horsemen from a retreating Royalist force crossed the Ribble estuary following the Battle of Marston Moor.

After Martin Mere was largely reclaimed for farmland, the focus of the town increasingly turned to agriculture, and to this day the high-quality soil supports several flower and vegetable farms in the east of the district.

However, the Industrial Revolution led to Crossens' incorporation into Southport as a site for housing for the larger town's burgeoning worker population.

In April 1904 it became the final electrified station on the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway's suburban lines radiating from Liverpool.