Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: maps from 1942 on and the census since 1880.
Hudson dates its founding to 1869 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1880.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Hudson’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Hudson.
An old variant name of the community was called North Benton. Hudson was founded by a group of settlers on August 14, 1869. The Hudson post office has been in operation since 1875. Hudson was incorporated as a town in 1892.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Hudson, cut from the printed page as they were published.
the present time. Under his management the business of this line has grown, and live boats are now kept in commission, instead of two boats, as formerly. Among the well known boats of this line are the “ Escort,” now the “City of Hudson”; the “Walter Brett,” now out of commission; the “ City of Catslcill,” which was destroyed by fire in the winter of 1884; and the “ Kaaterskill,” one of the finest steamboats on the Hudson, now in active service. The “ Escort ” was rebuilt and lengthened and rechristened the “ City of Hudson.” The steamers “ W. C. Redfield ” and “ Thomas Mc-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
ciated himself with the different elevated railways in Brooklyn, where he made preliminary surveys for several lines. In 1887 he returned to his former position with Mr. Brush, with whom he continued until 1895, having charge of Mr. Brush’s construction work in North Hudson County, which included the $250,090 contract for the outlet sewer to Union Hill, the construction of the North Hudson County Railway to the (luttenberg racetrack, the improvement of the Meeks and Cossitt estates, the preliminary surveys for the Hudson River Bridge, and practically every large
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Railroads in Essex and Hudson Counties. — The history of railroads in the counties of Essex and Hudson is contemporaneous with the history of the introduction of these great highways of travel into the United States, and almost parallel with the first success of railroading in England. Being so intimately associated with the great strides of advancement made by New Jersey in the last half century, it may be per-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
trol of the New York Central railroad, and in 1867 he became its president. He soon perfected a consolidation of the New York Central with the Hudson River railroad, having a trackage of 1,000 miles and a capital of over $100,000,000. In 1869 he was made president of the consolidated roads. In 1868 he secured control of the Lake Shore railroad, thus giv-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Hudson. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Hudson.
Between 316 and 596 people in every census since 1880.
14 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Hudson’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Hudson itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
In 1869, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Hudson’s post office opened in 1875, and the census of 1880 counted 316 people here.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
