[2] Located on the west bank of the Mississippi River, it is bordered by Interstate 10 and US Highway 190.

The village of La Ville De St. Michel or San Miguel (1790–1817) had existed in a nearby location to what is now the city of Port Allen.

[3] Allen was instrumental in the early years of the village, prior to the founding of the city, he had owned a slave-worked sugar plantation in town he had started in 1855, the Allendale Plantation, and he created his own railroad that ran through the village.

[4][5][6] Around 1878, a former slave named Alex Banes was creating a small community called Sunrise, which existed just north of what is now Port Allen.

[3] On August 10, 1940, the Huey P. Long Bridge at U.S. Route 190 was unveiled, which joined the east and west parishes, and shaping the city towards and aiding commerce and industries.

[3] Over time there was economic shifts away from agricultural and towards industrial, and in the 1950s factories and manufacturing plants were built in town.

The council writes policies, adopts ordinances and resolutions, and appoints members to boards and commissions.

The West Baton Rouge Museum includes the museum, the c. 1830 Aillet House, a c. 1870s Reconstruction Era worker's cabin, and a c. 1890s cabin decorated to look as it would have during the Civil Rights Era), the c. 1880s Arbroth Plantation Store, the c. 1938 Reed Farm and Ranch Shotgun House, and a reproduction early 20th-century barn.

It includes a ticket booth, clothing and memorabilia from that era, along with the typewriter originally used at the depot.

The area includes a pedestrian promenade with special architectural paving, viewing benches, and ornamental street lighting.

Scott's Cemetery is the burial place of African Americans in West Baton Rouge, dating to the 1850s and slavery times.

The Port of Greater Baton Rouge, located in Port Allen, is the head of deepwater navigation on the Mississippi River, serving barges and ocean-going vessels with international import and export facilities for all types of cargo, from grain to paper products, chemicals, manufactured goods, bulk ores and petroleum products.

Its facilities include grain elevator storage, molasses, sugar, oil and coffee terminals.

Port Allen Festivals have included the Lagniappe Dulcimer Fete Festival, Port Allen Bonfires on the Mississippi River, SugarFest, West Baton Rouge Parish Fair, Kite Fest Louisiane, and the Oldies but Goodies Fest.[when?]