Thames Street has always been the busiest road in Newport from the earliest days, servicing the city’s vital waterfront. It has been widened, narrowed and paved numerous times since it was mapped in 1712. The first reference to paving was in 1715 when the Town Council approved stone block pavers to be installed from Carr’s Lane (Mill Street) to the Colony House. Later paving projects were paid for by special taxes and lotteries, such as the ticket shown at right from February 1752. The same area in front of the Brick Market, looking north, was yet again improved as shown below in the c.1910 photograph from a glass plate negative.
