Milneburg was named for land owner developer Alexander Milne, however local pronunciation came to call it "Mill-en-burg" or "Mil-lan-bug", and the name has often been seen in print misspelled Milenberg and variations. Early on it was officially designated Port Pontchartrain, but the "Milneburg" name soon replaced this for all uses except for United States Coast Guard designation of the lighthouse there, which continued to be listed as "Port Pontchartrain Lighthouse" to 1929.

In the early 19th century Milneburg was connected to the city, which then was along the riverfront, by Elysian Fields Avenue. In 1830 it was decided to build the region's first railway along this route, and the Pontchartrain Rail-Road began steam locomotive transport of people and cargo along the 5-mile route on April 23, 1831. A long pier was built into the shallows of the lake, with a portion of the rail line running atop it, enabling ocean going ships to dock at Milneburg. The port boomed, and hotels, saloons, bath houses, and resorts were built around it, mostly atop high wooden piers in the shallows of the lake, connected by a network of pier like wooden boardwalks.

The importance of Milneburg in shipping declined in the late 19th century, but it remained an important resort. A series of "camps" (houses on piers in the shallows of the lake) were regularly rented out for parties, with fishing, pic-nics, and dancing to live bands.

Milneburg was important in the early development of jazz. Bands from different parts of the city and across racial lines came together here to hear one another and to sometimes compete with each other for popularity. Musician Sharkey Bonoano was born in Milneburg, and the area is commemorated in "Milneburg Joys" by the New Orleans Rhythm Kings who recorded the  tune on July 18, 1923 (with Leon Rappolo, Paul Mares, and Ferdinand 'Jelly Roll' Morton) in Richmond, Indiana.  The song remains a jazz standard.   

In the 1920s and 1930s a project to dredge new land on what had been the shallows of Lake Pontchartrain extended the shorline out and was the end of old Milneburg. The Pontchartrain Beach amusement parkwas built on what had been the center of Milneburg. Later the University of New Orleanswas built nearby. The neighborhood now designated as "Milneburg" by the New Orleans Planning Commission is actually to the south and inland of the historic Milneburg. (WIKI)

Listen to Milneburg Joys.