72-84 W Water St

From the National Register nomination

Victorian two-story painted brick building with a metal-sheathed gable roof with a stepped front parapet with a dogtooth cornice and two brick flues. In the parapet is a decorative marble plaque inscribed "Est. 1871 by Ludwig Hirsch." The segmental-arch second-story windows have 6/6 sash and fake shutters. The center first-story bay has a broad segmental-arch opening with modern brick infill with a dogtooth band and a 6/6 window with a gauged jack arch. One entry retains a one-light transom. Other features include a limestone foundation; a west side elevation with façade piers, high windows, and a garage door; and an unpainted American-bond brick rear elevation with a metal freight door. Ludwig Hirsch established his livery business in 1871, as the marble plaque in the front parapet proclaims. The 1907 Sanborn map, the first to show the building, labels it "Hirsch Bro's Sale Stable" and depicts a blacksmith shop set back on the east side (now replaced by 68-70 W. Water). About 1910 Hirsch Bros. advertised "sale and exchange [of] all grades of horses, cattle and cows" with feed and hitch stables capacity of 300 animals. Historic photographs show the center opening and large wood doors on tracks painted with horse heads in silhouette. Now Pulfenbarger Bros. Hair Styling Barber Shop (80) and Hart Law Offices (84A). (Rockingham County: Its Past and Present)