The river Foyle has been a trade and transport route before and since the Vikings, the Normans realised the strategic importance of the fort and protected the Foyle at Greencastle. The English saw this importance and created a fortified city here during the Plantation of Ulster this followed with the Londonderry Corporation being granted a Charter by King Charles II in 1664, handing over responsibility for the port. The growing city developed much like Belfast on the emerging industries, by 1850s the city had over 65 ships based here as their home port. These were merchant vessels that plied all the trading routes. The Harbour Commission was established in 1854 over the next decade or so new quays were built on both sides of the river and again like Belfast a shipyard developed.

Over the centuries tens of thousands have left from the quays here or have been ferried by tenders down to Moville to board a waiting liner, to begin their journey of emigration. In the early 1720s, Derry became one of the key ports for the first wave of emigrants to America, in one summer 25 emigrant ships left the port. The first three ships in this wave of emigration left from Londonderry (The 'McCallum') and Coleraine (The 'William' and the 'Robert'). In July 1729 one merchant reported that 25 ships had left the port that summer. Emigration to America was closely linked to the linen industry here, ships would take emigrants out to America and return with flaxseed, timber and cotton. Over the centuries thousands of people have used the port of Derry to travel overseas in search of a new life. In the eighteenth century, Derry was one of, if not the, most important Ulster port in the emigration trade.

Not only did ships sail from Derry to America, they sailed to Nova Scotia in Canada, by the late 1830s ships were sailing from Derry to Australia. When the famine struck, the next major wave of emigration from the port began, in 1847 over 12,000 emigrants left the quays. one of those was the emigrant ship, the 'Exmouth' which left the quay at 4 am on the 25th April and shipwrecked on Islay with the loss of 241 souls at 12:30 am on the 28th April having spent three days battling horrendous storm condition in the north channel. There were many emigrant ships lost and some without a trace on those long sea voyages. After the famine numbers slowly declined as the country recovered. The last passenger ship to leave the quay at Derry was in 1873 bound for New York, after this passengers were ferried down the Foyle by tenders to join transatlantic steamships anchored off Moville.