Lots of vestiges from the years when horses powered New York still remain: stables, horse drinking fountains, and the handsome nine-story loft built in 1897 as a monument to work horses and one Greenwich Village man who shoed them.
The clues are on the facade. Below the fourth floor, fancy insignias bearing the initials “MH” appear.
Who is MH? The letters stood for Michael Hallanan, a Galway-born blacksmith who came to the Village in the 1860s to open a horseshoe shop around the corner on Barrow Street.
No ordinary blacksmith, Hallanan invented a rubber horseshoe pad that prevented horses from slipping on ice.
That earned him kudos from the newly formed Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals as well as big profits, which he used to buy nearby real estate.
Nine Barrow Street was built by Hallanan—it’s hard to see, but the very top says “Hallanan Building” in green letters—and it “covers the plot where he had his original horseshoeing shop 60 years ago,” noted The New York Times in Hallanan’s 1926 obituary.
On the West 4th Street side, there’s an enormous bas relief of the horseshoe he invented, as well as its patent number.
Tags: 9 Barrow Street, Barrow Street, Greenwich Village blacksmith, Greenwich Village in the 19th century, Horses in New York City, Michael Hallanan, NYC horses, workhorse New York City
Ephemeral New York 
June 17, 2013 at 4:40 am |
I love love love this web site. Thank you again… What a labor of love !
June 17, 2013 at 5:16 am |
Thank you!
June 17, 2013 at 10:50 pm |
How cool. The printer of my high school newspaper was in that building, so I was there a lot. Never knew the building’s history, though. Thank you.
June 19, 2013 at 12:13 pm |
[…] Paying tribute to a 19th century Greenwich Village blacksmith. […]
December 19, 2013 at 3:38 am |
[…] Nine Barrow Street in Greenwich Village bears a version of my husband’s family name, in honor of an inventive Irish blacksmith. I found that out when I read, “A village monument to a 19th century blacksmith.” […]
September 2, 2014 at 4:18 am |
I just came upon the invention of Michael Hallanan for his 1898 rubber horseshoe. I invented a urethane horseshoe about 100 years after him in 2000. It’s called Ground Control horseshoes. Ironically, we both use the same advertising words to describe our horseshoe benefits. What’s old is new again. http://www.plastichorseshoes.com
May 5, 2021 at 8:42 am |
You have your facts mixed up. The rubber horseshoe was to protect the horses feet while on cobblestones. My great-grandfather, Michael Hallanan had a second patent on a studded horseshoe for walking on ice.