Port Moody at the eastern extremity of Burrard Inlet was named for Colonel Richard Clement Moody, former Governor of the Falkland Islands, Chief Commissioner of Lands & Works in BC, and Commander of the detachment of Royal Engineers sent by the Colonial Office to assist in the establishment of the new colony. Port Moody was founded in 1859 as an alternate site to BC's newly created capital of New Westminster. Since the Fraser River was given to periodic flooding and freezing, Port Moody was chosen as an alternative for naval anchorage, and the North Road was built to connect it with New Westminster.

In 1879 the future site of the terminal for the approaching Canadian Pacific Railway was the subject of much discussion in BC. Port Moody interests were convinced that their town would be the end of the line. The Prime Minister had indicated as much and Port Moody's harbour was the safest on Burrard Inlet. But the CPR had settled on the new town of Granville because of its superior deep sea capacity. Port Moody property owners obtained an injunction to stop the railway from crossing their land and the case went to the Supreme Court. The injunction was lifted and the railway saved the trouble of building a trestle down the middle of the inlet. Port Moody's reluctance to let the Canadian Pacific Railway by-pass them is understandable in light of the subsequent prosperity that the railway bestowed on Vancouver.

Nevertheless, Port Moody did develop as an industrial and shipping centre. During the nineteenth century sawmills were Port Moody's economic base. In the twentieth century oil refineries were also established in or near Port Moody, with Ioco (the abbreviation of Imperial Oil Company) being the best known. Since the CPR mainline passes right through the centre of Port Moody it became a convenient place to unload and store bulk shipments of sulphur and coal that arrived by train and to stockpile them to be loaded onto bulk freighters.