Wharf Road ran parallel to the river and had various wharves along its length: the Port of London Wharf, Millwall Boiler Works and a horse shoe makers on the Millwall side. On the Cubitt Town side there was more industry.
The Millwall Extension Railway opened a station called North Greenwich but the site of the station split Wharf Road into two parts. The railway company ran a subway between the vestigial Wharf Road and the cut-off – and much longer – section which eventually became Saunders Ness Road from 1937.
Wharf Road dated from the 1850s and its housing dated from the following decade. Three cross streets were built: Barque Street, Ship Street (later Schooner Street) and Brig Street.
