Hudson, Wisconsin

**Hudson** is a city in and the county seat of St. Croix County, Wisconsin, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, its population was 14,755. It is part of the Minneapolis–St. Paul Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). Hudson is bordered on the north by the village of North Hudson and the Willow River. On the North and East is the township of Hudson. To the south is the township of Troy. It is bounded on the west by the St. Croix River.

## History

Hudson was settled in the summer of 1840 by Louis Massey and his brother in-law, Peter Bouchea. William Steets arrived at about the same time. Later that same year, Joseph Sauperson (commonly known as Joe LaGrue) moved there. These four are considered Hudson's original inhabitants. Massey and Bouchea settled at the mouth of the Willow River, near the present-day First and St. Croix Streets. They had been part of the group who lived for some time along the river below Fort Snelling. This appears on some old maps as "Massey's Landing". The 1840s saw a few settlers arriving here — Captain John Page, the Nobles brothers, Dr. Philip Aldrich, Ammah Andrews, Moses Perrin, Colonel James Hughes, Daniel Anderson, and others.

Hudson was originally called "Willow River". It was later named "Buena Vista" by Judge Joel Foster, founder of River Falls. This was after he returned from the Mexican–American War where he fought in the Battle of Buena Vista. In 1852, Alfred D. Gray, Hudson's first mayor, petitioned to change the name of the city to "Hudson", because the bluffs along the St. Croix River reminded him of the Hudson River in his native New York.

A large number of settlers arrived in the 1850s and 1860s. Many of were the ancestors of today's residents. The lumber industry was the prime attraction of the area. Over time sawmills were started throughout the St. Croix Valley.

On August 30, 1917 a violent mob of 1,000 held a night rally in front of the armory. They were protesting the attempt by the pacifist People's Council of America to hold a conference in Hudson's prizefighting arena. The crowd then went after the four wiktorganizers in the lobby of their hotel and threatened to hang them. Only after the pleadings of county attorney N. O. Varnum were the four allowed to leave town.

U.S. Highway 12 once crossed the St. Croix River on a toll bridge between Wisconsin and Minnesota, which provided revenue for the town. With the construction of Interstate 94, the toll bridge was removed. The long causeway extending to the former bridge location is now open to the public as a pedestrian walkway.

Hudson has grown as a tourist destination in recent years. There are shops and restaurants on the St. Croix river in its historic downtown, along with hotels and other businesses that serve traffic on Interstate Highway 94.

## Infobox (settlement)

- **name**: Hudson, Wisconsin
- **settlement type**: City
- **image skyline**: DowntownHudson1.jpg
- **imagesize**: 250px
- **image caption**: Downtown Hudson, September 2010
- **image map**: File:St. Croix County Wisconsin Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Hudson Highlighted.svg
- **map caption**: Location of Hudson in St. Croix County, Wisconsin.
- **pushpin map**: Wisconsin#USA
- **pushpin relief**: yes
- **pushpin label**: Hudson
- **subdivision type**: Country
- **subdivision name**: United States
- **subdivision type1**: U.S. state, State
- **subdivision name1**: Wisconsin
- **subdivision type2**: List of counties in Wisconsin, County
- **subdivision name2**: St. Croix County, Wisconsin, St. Croix
- **government type**: Mayor–council government, Mayor-council
- **leader title**: Mayor
- **unit pref**: Imperial
- **area total km2**: 19.80
- **area land km2**: 17.52
- **area water km2**: 2.28
- **population as of**: 2020 United States Census, 2020
- **population total**: 14755
- **population density sq mi**: 2180.8
- **population density km2**: 842.0
- **timezone**: Central Time Zone (Americas), Central (CST)
- **utc offset**: −6
- **timezone dst**: CDT
- **utc offset dst**: −5
- **population blank1 title**: Demonym
- **population blank1**: Hudsonite
- **postal code type**: ZIP codes
- **postal code**: 54016, 54017
- **area code**: Area codes 715 and 534, 715 & 534 (715
- **blank name**: Federal Information Processing Standard, FIPS code
- **blank info**: 55-36250
- **blank1 name**: Geographic Names Information System, GNIS feature ID
- **website**: [http://www.ci.hudson.wi.us www.ci.hudson.wi.us]
- **area total sq mi**: 7.65
- **area land sq mi**: 6.77
- **area water sq mi**: 0.88