Granton forms part of Edinburgh's waterfront along the Firth of Forth and is, historically, an industrial area having a large harbour.

According to Stuart Harris, the name is derived from the Anglian grand tun, a farm or place of or at the gravel or sand.

In 1592 it was sold by the Melville family to John Russell but by 1619 was acquired by Sir Thomas Hope, the Lord Advocate, who greatly altered and extended the castle.

At the end of the 19th century the architectural historians MacGibbon and Ross did a survey and created scale drawings of the remnants.

In 1928 a quarrying firm, Bain and Brown, bought the site to excavate the rock outcrop beneath the castle.

The exercise itself was largely redundant as the steeply angled rock bed quickly meant excavation became too deep to be economic.

It was threatened by housing development proposals but was saved by a local campaign and is now maintained as a community resource by the Friends of Granton Castle Garden.

The original project included a central pier named the Victoria Jetty and a road running eastwards to Leith.

[8] The original concept to create two large wet docks on the landward side was abandoned as this proved impractical.

[9] Granton became a successful port for the export of coal, and import of esparto grass for making paper.

The fishing fleet grew considerably, leading to the development of an ice house in the late 19th century, to the west of the harbour.

The first example of the fossil crustacean Waterstonella was found in the Granton shrimp beds by the keeper of geology at the Royal Scottish Museum, Dr. Charles Waterstone.

[13] During the First World War Granton harbour was used as the base for mine-sweeping equipment: mainly Scottish trawlers and their crews, called into active service and conscripted as part of the Royal Navy Reserve.

[18] Granton Gasworks were formerly one of Edinburgh waterfront's most prominent landmarks, comprising three blue gasometers which were clearly visible from Fife.

The firm continues in business as Parsons Peebles Generation Limited, Wood Road, Royal Dockyard, Rosyth.

Ferranti's factory on Ferry Road was built to make electronics for aircraft, including gyro-based gunsights for the Supermarine Spitfire.

Torphin - Colinton - Oxgangs - Morningside - Tollcross - Princes Street - Leith - Newhaven - Granton - Muirhouse - Silverknowes A railway connection to the harbour was needed in order for it to make a profit.

The Duke of Buccleuch, who had financed the harbour, invested in the Edinburgh, Leith and Newhaven Railway, which in 1842 opened a line from Canal Street railway station, at right angles to the present Waverley station, to Trinity Crescent, near the Trinity Chain Pier.

They agreed a contract to run passenger services to the new gas works from central Edinburgh; the Granton Gasworks railway station was built for this purpose.

In April 2009, the City of Edinburgh Council announced the cancellation of Phase 1b citing problems caused by the global recession, saving an estimated £75,000,000.

[20] In February 2024, the council announced a 12-week consultation on proposals to build a new north-south tram route that would link Granton with the city centre and the BioQuarter.

Dr. Charles Munro had developed a general practice in the area, and when he was called up for national service in World War Two, his locum was pioneering German Dr. Ekkehard von Kuenssberg.

The gasworks site spread over 110 acres (0.45 km2), is to be redeveloped as the ForthQuarter, a mixed-use development of housing, offices, local services, a park, and a new campus for Edinburgh College.