Stranraer's first harbour, the West Pier, was built in 1820. Previous to this ships had anchored offshore or made use of a series of unofficial wooden jetties to the west of the town at The Clayhole.
The construction of the West Pier provided good berths - it also allowed the Burgh Council to collect harbour duties - and by the 1830s there were regular steam-packets sailing to Girvan, Glasgow and Belfast. Today the original pier survives, and is still used by a small number of fishing boats and pleasure craft although the ground reclamation to the west has given it a slightly truncated appearance.
The official Irish ferry service began in 1862 with the construction of the East Pier and the completion of the railway to Stranraer. The first sailings were to Belfast with the Stranraer-Larne service being introduced in 18712.
