Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns · #28 of 758 in New York. What drives it
14 places in town are on the National Register, among them the Dr. Oliver Bronson House and Estate, a National Historic Landmark, and five historic districts with 819 buildings between them. Below: 9 old photos and papers, maps from 1884 on, and the census since 1790.
Hudson dates its founding to 1785 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). It appears in the first U.S. census, 1790.
Among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Hudson is among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns, #28 of 758 in New York. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its age lowest.
New York towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical New York town has 12.3 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Hudson’s 1,413 sits above most of its state (98% of New York towns have fewer) while its 829 historic buildings outnumber those of 98% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikidata (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. One is a National Historic Landmark, the highest tier.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Hudson.
The native Mahican people had occupied this territory for hundreds of years before Dutch colonists began to settle here in the 17th century, calling it "Claverack Landing" (as it was later known in English). In 1662, some of the Dutch bought this area of land from the Mahican. Later it was part of the Town of Claverack established by English colonists.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Hudson, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Hudson's elder son, John Hudson, accompanied him on all his later voyages, and finally perished with him. His second son named David was the ancestor of the Hudson family, who came to this country in the year 1800, and founded the town of Hudson in Ohio. This David Hudson, being the fifth of that name in direct descent from Henry Hudson. It is a pleasant thought that his descendants have been residents of our country
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
In 1793, the Hudson Aqueduct Company, as the association was called, purchased the "Fountain" situated upon the road leading from Claverack to Hudson. The legislature was appealed to, and an act was passed "for the better regulating and protecting the aqueducts in the city of Hudson, providing for the election of officers, passage of by-laws, and giving to the Common Council the right by ordinance to fix a penalty, not exceeding five
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.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.
Born hereJohn C. Spencer is born hereBuiltElisha Williams House is built
BuiltHudson Almshouse is built
In the archiveHudson
In the archiveWHBartlettSouthEasternViewOfHudsonCityNY1837
In the archiveForshew Advertisement
In the archiveMeyers Universum Band 21 19BuiltHouses at 37-47 North Fifth St. is builtBuiltHudson/Athens Lighthouse is built
In the archiveHudson River, New York
Born hereChester Erskine is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey5 decades in the archive, from the 1820s to the 1890s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Hudson.
1980Hudson North sheet · 1:24,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Hudson.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1884Sheet 1 of 12Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Hudson’s page.
Retake this view · +15Peaked at 12,337 in 1930; 5,894 people lived here in 2020.
24 censuses, 1790–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Hudson’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Hudson’s post office has been open since 1792.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1785, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Hudson’s post office opened in 1792, and the first U.S. census counted 2,584 people here in 1790.
Hudson is among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns, #28 of 758 in New York. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
14 listings: 8 buildings, among them the Dr. Oliver Bronson House and Estate (a National Historic Landmark since 2003), 5 historic districts with 819 contributing buildings, and 1 structure. 829 historic buildings in all.
53% of Hudson’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.6 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1938.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (6), the Library of Congress (3), Wikidata (3), the National Register of Historic Places (14), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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.
1838
1855–1862
1890
1898
