Originally inhabited by the Punguratpular people, one of the eighteen tribes of the Ngarrindjeri nation, the area began to see European settlement in the 1840s with the arrival of pastoralists.

The township of Milang was officially surveyed in early 1854, with the first land auctions held in July of that year. The town experienced a period of significant growth between 1860 and 1880, thriving as a vital port connecting the Riverina and Darling River regions to Port Adelaide via river trade.”