Don Road was opened in a grand ceremony attended by the States on 23 December 1806 and named after the Lieut-Governor Lt-General Sir George Don, who had been appointed earlier in the year and as part of his overall review of the Island's defences at a time when the United Kingdom and France were at war, he set about building a network of new roads, so that troops could be moved more easily from one part of the island to another.
Don Road was one of the first and most important as the main eastern gateway to the town.
A fine terrace of houses, Royal Crescent, was built in 1826 by Bailiff Sir Thomas Le Breton, with a magnificent theatre in the centre completed two years later. This was destroyed by fire in 1863, and replaced by a Methodist church, which was itself demolished towards the end of the 20th century, leaving an open space in the middle now used for car parking.
The stage backdrop of the theatre was a painting of the harbour and St Aubin's Bay from La Collette by Cruton, an English artist.