By the mid 1700’s Alloa had also become a major port, its growth mainly brought on by Scottish merchants being able to trade with America after the 1707 Act of Union.
Glasgow merchants built extensive warehousing to hold stocks of sugar and tobacco which had been landed on the Clyde and brought over land by pack horse to Alloa for it’s onward shipping to mainland Europe.
By 1760s there were over 100 ships registered to the port which continued to prosper.
By the mid 1800s over 2,000 vessels traded from Alloa mainly exporting coal.