THERE is a street in Newport which encapsulates the history of the city from the early 1800s to the present day.

It came from nothing, rose to prominence in the second half of the 19th century on the back of the coal industry and British shipping before declining in the 20th century.

Falling into disrepair, in the 1960s it suffered the ignominy of being bisected to create the Kingsway Centre, bus station, and John Frost Square.

The thoroughfare in question is Dock Street and its unique history has been captured in a survey commissioned by Richard Owen and Filipa Saramago at Newport council.

The council has channelled grants to Dock Street's property owners to help capture some memories of the area's 19th century splendour.

The survey was done by Gillian Levy, a history graduate of the University of Wales Newport.

It's a fascinating document which reveals Dock Street as a barometer of Newport's and even Britain's trading fortunes.

In the early 19th century Newport was exporting more coal than Cardiff, much of it brought to Pill by the Monmouthshire Canal.

But at this time the wharfs were tidal ones on the bank of the river.

The town desperately needed a floating dock and in 1835 Royal Assent was granted "for making and maintaining a Dock and other works in the Port of Newport ... With a Railway and Stone Road there from."

Town Dock - now the subject of a major housing and commercial redevelopment - was opened in 1842 to great fanfare and a report in The Illustrated London News.

The area in which it was built was about four feet below the level of spring tides and was built up with ballast from incoming ships to prevent flooding.

Shipmasters were offered the princely sum of one-and-three quarter pence per ton for the precious hard core which was always in short supply.

Myth and legend suggests the origins of Dock Street arose from the need of workers on Town Dock to forge a safe path to and from town.

Gillian Levy believes it was more likely to have been a planned route to complement the Commercial Street route from Pill to the Westgate.

Early businesses on Dock Street (circa 1847) included William Hunt - builder, Thomas Phillips - carpenter, W S Cartwright - solicitor, and R F Woollett - surgeon (and later Health Inspector for Newport).

In 1844 the powerful Tredegar Wharf Company built a new cattle market for Newport adjacent to Dock Street from its own resources. Ms Levy speculates that this may have been to help shift the commercial focus towards Pill where the company owned much of the land.

In 1850 the Western Valley Railway Station opened on Dock Street. The Custom House (next to today's Chandlery restaurant) opened in 1858 two years after the nearby Masonic Hall. The cellars beneath the hall became the first approved bonded stores in the street.

There were never many houses on Dock Street, the area being devoted to trade.

Shipping agents and coal exporters abounded, as did sail makers, carriage makers, (steam) engine fitters, boiler makers and hoteliers catering for the sailors who came and went with the tides.

The army was also represented, with the 3rd and 7th Mon Rifles practising at two Drill Halls.

During the second half of the 19th century Newport - and Britain - boomed. Dock Street became a kind of United Nations.

In the 1881 census, Ms Levy observed that Lower Dock Street contained 21 heads of households born in Britain, one from the East Indies, two from France, two from Ireland, one from Poland and one from Spain.

There were vice consuls representing Liberia, Brazil, Chile, the Argentine, Honduras, Uruguay, The Ottoman Empire, the German Empire, Denmark, Portugal, Netherlands, Belgium and Greece.

From 75 Dock Street a French and Italian teacher called D. Conta advertised "Translations of all kinds, from either language, especially on matters concerning shipping and business."

The oldest tobacco manufacturer in Newport moved to No 70 Dock Street in 1889.

It was led by George Fothergill and he occupied a large, two-storey factory with offices on the ground floor and a workshop above powered by steam. George Fothergill built one of the town's grandest homes, Beechwood House, but business turned down and he was later declared bankrupt.

Building work around the street was fast and furious. The Old Town Dock had been extended in 1858 and Alexandra Dock, which had opened in 1875, was itself extended in 1893, 1907 and 1914.

Dock Street was gradually lengthened northwards where it was variously referred to as New Dock Street and Great Dock Street.

The prosperity of this golden mile must have appeared unshakeable, but all capitalism is cyclical and by the end of the First World War the game was up.

Domestically, most of the coal was now coming out of the deep seams of the Rhondda and was exported through Cardiff Docks.

And the great age of steam was coming to an end as oil-fired engines took over.

Demand for top quality South Wales steaming coal was in decline worldwide.

At the same time Britain's pre-eminence in sea power was also being challenged by newly-emerging nations - a disaster for a port like Newport.

In the 1930s Newport, like the rest of the country, slipped into the great depression and on Dock Street and Pill in general there was much suffering.

Re-arming for war pulled the economy's nose up and although Newport Docks were bombed Dock Street was relatively unscathed. Bomb shelters were built along nearby George Street although they did not prove popular with residents or workers.

Barrage balloons and an anti-aircraft gun were sited at the cattle market where local children would fight over spent shell cases as souvenirs.

As Ms Levy concludes: "Following the war Britain looked forward to a brighter future but perhaps Dock Street was regarded as a relic from the past."