In the 19th century, Portreath was, with Devoran on the south coast, one of the main ports for sending the copper ore mined in the Gwennap area to Swansea for smelting.
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In the late 1770s, during the American Revolutionary War, lieutenant-colonel of the North Devon militia, Francis Basset, commanded local miners to fortify the port, which helped counter a Franco-Spanish invasion fleet gathered as part of the European theatre of the war, some of them still standing to this day.
Seeking an improved means of transport, in 1798 (Francis Basset), "Paid Mr. John Williams subscription towards planning a canal from Portreath £10. 10s. 0d".