Prior to European settlement Port Adelaide was covered with mangrove swamps and tidal mud flats, and lay next to a narrow creek.

[5] At this time, it was inhabited by the Kaurna people, who occupied the Adelaide Plains, the Barossa Valley, the western side of the Fleurieu Peninsula, and northwards past Snowtown.

[13] Colonel William Light began closely exploring the area in late 1836 while deciding on a site for the colony of South Australia's port.

Arrivals had to use smaller boats, traverse the mangrove swamps at low tide and climb sandhills to reach the road to Adelaide.

[29] Gawler awarded a tender allowing the South Australian Company to construct a private wharf, again partly to limit government expenditure.

[44] The construction of the Outer Harbor took place at the beginning of the 20th century, accommodating larger ships and reducing the time needed to sail up the Port River to the inner harbour.

[45] In the 1920s and 1930s the first wharf was removed or disappeared[13] and the Port Adelaide wharves underwent a significant reconstruction programme, changing the face of the inner harbour's waterfront.

The introduction of containerisation in the 1960s had a major impact on the Port, changing cargo handling methods and significantly reducing the size of the local workforce.

[55] In 2016 the Federal Government announced that DCNS had won the tender to build 12 submarines for the Royal Australian Navy in a $50 billion deal, with construction taking place in Port Adelaide.

[54] In 2016 the South Australian State Government indicated it is interested in re-establishing the tram network from the City to Port Adelaide, with links to Outer Harbor and Semaphore.

[56] In 2017 developer EPC Pacific began construction of a $38 million office tower on Nelson Street in Port Adelaide that will house public servants.

[64] In 2020 the Port Adelaide Pirates Soccer Club moved to their new home on the Peninsula after $9.2 million in investments for the Taperoo sports complex.

[79] On the corner of Dale street is a building that was opened by the Port Adelaide Market Company in 1879, divided into shops, offices and stalls.

The Port River's inner harbor near West Lakes and seaward from Lipson Reach feature dense stands of Grey mangroves which provide habitat for hundreds of species of marine, avian and insect life.

The river also features established colonies of a wide variety of introduced marine organisms which originally arrived in South Australia in or on ships.

[90][91] Port Adelaide is traditionally a working class area which stemmed from the economic activity the wharves produced and the subsequent industry.

[94] Modernist painter Margaret Preston was born in Port Adelaide and spent the first 10 years of her life in the area whilst her father worked as a marine engineer.

[96] During the 1940s John Giles would often be accompanied by friend and fellow artist Jeffrey Smart whilst working on Port Adelaide maritime paintings.

Sculpted in 2009 by Michelle Nikou and Jason Milanovic, the glow-in-the-dark sculptures[99] of ibis and emu are representations of the Tjilbruke Kaurna Dreaming story.

[100] The Wonderwalls Festival, which involves international artists using the buildings in the area for street art, attracts around 30,000 visitors to Port Adelaide.

[106][107] Port Adelaide's diverse subject matter, maritime backdrop, historic, modern and industrial architecture has made it an attractive location for movie and television productions.

Its headquarters and training facility and home ground for South Australian National Football League (SANFL) games is Alberton Oval.

Involvement of the History Trust of South Australia and receipt of a $2 million Australian Bicentennial Commemorative Grant enabled the museum's relocation to Port Adelaide in 1988.

On site is the South Australian Heritage Register listed Port Dock Goods Shed, the last remaining building from the former railway station.

[131] The clipper's hull is being temporarily stored on a barge moored in Dock 1 of the port's inner harbour for the next 6–12 months, until a permanent location is selected and prepared.

It relocated again in 1996, to an aircraft hangar also in Port Adelaide, and in January 2006 opened on its present site in Lipson Street, adjacent to the railway museum.

[133] Amongst the exhibits are a recently retired Lockheed AP-3C Orion, a General Dynamics F-111C and a GAF Mirage IIID, which was formerly the gate guard at RAAF Base Edinburgh.

This vessel, currently owned by the South Australian Maritime Museum, remains on hardstand at Cruickshanks Corner near the Birkenhead Bridge, while its fate is still to be determined.

[137] The first transport infrastructure in the suburb was the construction of a 1 mile (1.6 km) long road from the port to near the present Alberton Hotel.

[141] At the opening of both bridges Rann unveiled a plaque dedicated to Mary Mackillop[142] blessed by Pope Benedict during his recent visit to Sydney.