For a long time, the territory of the Nizhnevolzhskaya Embankment bore the name of the Nizhny Posad and was haphazardly built up with warehouses, commercial and residential buildings. After a series of fires and numerous attempts at rebuilding, a “plan of better order and durability” was approved.

The street began taking its present-day appearance in the first half of the 19th century. Henceforth, only stone buildings were allowed, and the embankment was widened and strengthened. Over time, the street welcomed stone barracks, trading houses, a stock exchange and small buildings where arriving loaders quarantined.

The Nizhnevolzhskaya Embankment was designed by the architects Ivan Yefimovich Yefimov and Pyotr Danilovich Gottman in the 1830s.

In 1836, the improvement work on the embankment started, which engaged up to 2850 people and 750 carts every year. The project was supervised by an engineer captain named Dmitriyev. The earth for filling was delivered from the digging site of the Zelensky and Pokhvalinsky descents. To prevent the fill-up soil from being washed off during river floods, the bank was reinforced with cobblestone, which was brought to Nizhny Novgorod from the Yaroslavl and Kostroma Governorates.

In 1836, a peasant Klimov undertook the stone coating of the embankment. In 1838, the Nizhnevolzhskaya Embankment was laid with cobblestone following the directions of engineer Nikolay Ivanovich Lick as part of the extensive improvement work, initiated by Nicholas I. After that, for the first time in the history of Nizhny Novgorod, transportation along the riverbank became possible.

The appearance of the Nizhny Bazaar began to change radically. Only stone buildings were allowed to be erected on the embankment. The first stone manor in this area was built by Princes Golitsyn.

In 1841, 111 sazhens, or over 230 meters of the embankment were damaged by a river flood. Repairs worth 3000 rubles were carried out by the aforementioned peasant Klimov. In the future, such significant damage to the embankment as this never occurred again. In 1909–1911, the aggradation of the bank and some additional cobblestone reinforcements were performed.

In the 19th century, Nizhny Novgorod’s economy strongly depended on the river, so there were berths of the steamship societies “Caucasus and Mercury” and “Airplane”, as well as one that belonged to the Kamensky brothers.