Port Adelaide, from a sketch by F.R. Nixon, 1846.

Adelaide's port was initially higher up the Port River, south of the present Jervois Bridge. Dubbed Port Misery because disembarking passengers had to struggle through mangrove swamp and over sandhills before commencing the trek to Adelaide, the site was quickly abandoned and in May 1839 work began on the 'New Port' some distance downstream, and the site of the present Inner Harbor.

The South Australian Company quickly built the first wharf, McLaren Wharf, and began construction of the road to Adelaide. Port Adelaide continued to expand. Passengers no longer disembarked into a mangrove swamp.

Mudflats to metropolis: Port Adelaide 1836-1986 [Port Adelaide, S. Aust.: B. & T. Publishers, 1986]

Parsons, Ronald Port Misery and the new port (early Port Adelaide) Lobethal, S. Aust. : R.H. Parsons, 1997

Samuels, Brian History and heritage in the Port Centre and inner harbour: notes for a walk around the Port Centre for the Historical Society of South Australia, 22 October 2000 [Adelaide : Heritage South Australia?, 2000]

Couper-Smartt, John. Port Adelaide: tales from a "commodious harbour" Port Adelaide: Friends of the South Australian Maritime Museum, 2003

Ritter, Ron. Triumph, tragedy and Port Adelaide [Para Vista, S. Aust.]: Ronald C. Ritter, 2005

SA Memory, The Foundation of South Australia: 1800-1851, Key events and issues, Pioneers Landing at Port Adelaide

State Library of South Australia, General Information Factsheets Online: Shipping and passenger records

SA Memory, The Foundation of South Australia 1800-1851 Port Adelaide