567 Hudson Street at West 11th Street
Turn left on West 11th and go all the way to Hudson. The White Horse Tavern is on the south-west side of the intersection of Hudson and West 11th.
Dylan lovingly called it “The Horse.” One of New York’s oldest bars, dating back to 1880, the White Horse’s “British pub atmosphere” made him feel very much at home. He would have seen the masts and funnels of ships in the Hudson River teasing the sky at the ends of streets, possibly reminding him of Swansea’s dockside area. He and fellow writers would also have chatted and sat with the seamen and dockworkers who frequented the White Horse.
In Dylan’s day an elderly German gentleman and his wife ran the Tavern. Many other writers, literary figures, and artists have also enjoyed a drink there, including Norman Mailer, James Baldwin, Jack Kerouac, the Clancy Brothers, Bob Dylan and Jim Morrison. It is Dylan Thomas, though, who is most associated with the bar, now famously linked to Dylan’s death. At 2 am on Wednesday, 4 November, he left Liz Reitell at the Hotel Chelsea and disappeared for about 2 hours. When he returned he made the claim that he had downed 18 straight whiskies, but when friends later questioned the proprietor, he said it was more likely that Dylan had had 6 whiskies. Even after this now legendary episode, Dylan returned the next day, after sleeping until midday, to his beloved “The Horse” for a couple of beers, his final drinks there.
[blockquote shade=no]“And freely he goes lost
In the unknown, famous light of great
And fabulous, dear God
Dark is a way and light is a place”
~from “Poem on his birthday”
This is the end of the tour. We suggest you go inside the White Horse to see the room dedicated to Dylan and the paintings, posters and other memorabilia on the walls. Please raise a glass to one of Wales’s most famous sons and one of the world’s great poets.
