The town is named after Saint Margaret of Scotland who used to cross the firth by ferry from "Queen's Ferry" to visit her chapel in Edinburgh Castle. She died in 1093 and made her final journey by ferry to Dunfermline Abbey. Her son, David I of Scotland, awarded the ferry rights to the abbey.
There had been ferries at North Queensferry until 1964 when the Forth Road Bridge was opened.
The town pier was designed by John Rennie. One of the main attractions is the Deep Sea World marine aquarium.