LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Crews replacing a Louisville water main have dug up a piece of history more than 140 years old. 

What You Need To Know

  • Crews are working to replace a segment of a water main that was installed in 1877

  • The project is expected to take a year to complete

  • A construction inspector found an old horseshoe in a bucket of dirt

  • WaterWorks Museum education specialist Jay Ferguson began to research the horseshoe

 

Jay Ferguson, education specialist for the WaterWorks Museum, said crews were excavating a 36-inch cast iron pipe under Frankfort Avenue that was installed in 1877. 

Back then, Rutherford B. Hayes was in the White House. 

Workers install a 36-inch cast iron pipe under Frankfort Avenue in 1877. (Louisville Water Company)

"Louisville has grown a little bit since 1877," Ferguson said.

Now, 144 years and 27 presidents later, part of one of the city's oldest water mains is being replaced. 

Crews are working to replace part of a water main installed in 1877. (Spectrum News 1/Erin Kelly)

A construction inspector found an old horseshoe in a bucket of dirt, Ferguson said. 

"I know the editor of the American Farriers Journal, who put me in touch with the Head of Farrier Services at Cornell University," said Ferguson. "He said this was a hind shoe with an extended heel for a horse that pulls a light carriage or a wagon.” 

Jay Ferguson says he learned this horseshoe may have been used to pull a light carriage or wagon. (Spectrum News 1/Erin Kelly)

Ferguson said a photo from when the pipe was installed shows a horse and carriage in the background. 

"Did it come from this horse? We don’t know.” 

He hopes to put the horseshoe and photographs on display in the WaterWorks Museum. 

The more than $13 million project to install new water mains began in August and is expected to take a year, according to Louisville Water Company.