Emmett Street provided a link from Three Colt Street to Bridge Road along the back of the buildings constructed along the river front.
The east, (non river) side of the road, was only partially developed before the 1802 opening of the West India Docks.
As the West India Dock Company was keen to divert public traffic away, the land owning Emmett family in 1807 built Bridge Road and Garford Street. The triangle of property bounded by the three roads was developed slowly during the nineteenth century.
About 1830, the informal road became known as Emmett Street.
It was largely given over to public housing in the 1930s and the thoroughfare was lost as part of the 1980s redevelopment of the area around Canary Wharf.
