Hudson, Wisconsin
Hudson is a city in and the county seat of St. Croix County, Wisconsin, United States. As of the 2010 United States census, its population was 12,719. 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.
References
County seats in Wisconsin
1840 establishments in the United States
1840s establishments in Wisconsin Territory