Hudson, Massachusetts

Indigenous people lived in what became central Massachusetts for thousands of years prior to European settlement. Indigenous oral histories, archeological evidence,[3] and European settler documents attest to historic settlements of the Nipmuc people in present-day Hudson and the surrounding area.[4]

In 1650, the area that would become Hudson and Marlborough was part of the Ockookangansett Indian Plantation for the Praying Indians. During King Philip's War, English settlers forcibly evicted the Indians from their plantation, imprisoning and killing many of them; most survivors did not return after the conflict.[2] The first recorded European settlement of the Hudson area occurred in 1698 when settler John Barnes was granted 1 acre (0.40 ha) of the Indian plantation.[4] Barnes built a gristmill on the Assabet River's north bank on land that would one day be part of Hudson.[1] In 1699 Barnes sold his gristmill to Joseph Howe, who built a sawmill and bridge across the Assabet. The area became known as Howe's Mills, or simply The Mills, throughout the 1700s.[4]

The settlement was originally part of the town of Marlborough. In June 1743, area residents Samuel Witt, John Hapgood, and others petitioned to break away from Marlborough and become a separate town, claiming the journey to attend Marlborough's town meeting was "vastly fatiguing."[1][2] Their petition was denied by the Massachusetts General Court. Samuel Witt later served on committees of correspondence during the 1760s.[4] At least nine men[4] from the area fought with the Minutemen on April 19, 1775, as they harassed British troops along the route to Boston.[1][2]

In the 1850s, Feltonville received its first railroads.[1][2] There were two Feltonville train stations, originally operated by the Central Massachusetts Railroad Company and later by Boston & Maine, until both were closed in 1965. Railroads allowed the development of larger factories, some of the first in the country to use steam power and sewing machines. By 1860, Feltonville had 17 shoe and shoe-related factories, which attracted Irish and French Canadian immigrants.[4]

Feltonville residents fought for the Union during the American Civil War. Twenty-five of those men died doing so. Two existing houses – the Goodale Homestead on Chestnut Street (Hudson's oldest building, dating from 1702) and the Curley home on Brigham Street (formerly known as the Rice Farm) – have been cited as waystations on the Underground Railroad.[2][5]

In May 1865, Feltonville residents once again petitioned to become a separate town. They cited the difficulty of attending town meeting, as their predecessors had in 1743, and also noted that Marlborough's high school was too far for most Feltonville children to practicably attend. This petition was approved by the Massachusetts General Court on March 19, 1866. A committee suggested naming the new town Hudson after Congressman Charles Hudson, who was born and raised in the Feltonville neighborhood.[2][5] By his own account, in response to this honor, Charles Hudson offered to donate $500 towards establishing a free public library. Town citizens gratefully voted to accept Congressman Hudson's gift.[6]

Wood Square in 1907

Over the next twenty years, Hudson grew as several industries settled in town. Two woolen mills, an elastic-webbing plant, a piano case factory, and a factory for waterproofing fabrics by rubber coating were constructed. Private banks, five schools, a poor farm, and the current town hall were also built during this time.[2][5] The population hovered around 4,000 residents, most of whom lived in modest houses with small backyard gardens. Some of Hudson's wealthier citizens built elaborate Queen Anne Victorian mansions, and many of them still exist. One of the finest is the 1895 Col. Adelbert Mossman House on Park Street, which is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Col. Adelbert Mossman House

The town maintained five volunteer fire companies during the 1880s and 1890s, one of which manned the Eureka Hand Pump, a record-setting pump that could shoot a 1.5-inch (38 mm) stream of water 229 feet (70 m).[2][5] Despite this glut of fire companies, on July 4, 1894, two boys playing with firecrackers started a fire that burned down 40 buildings and 5 acres (20,000 m²) of central Hudson. Nobody was hurt, but the damages were estimated at $400,000 in 1894 (the equivalent of approximately $11.1 million in 2018).[2][5] The town was substantially rebuilt within a year or two.

By 1900, Hudson's population reached about 5,500 residents and the town had built a power plant on Cherry Street. Many houses were wired for electricity, and to this day Hudson produces its own power under the auspices of the Hudson Light and Power Department, a non-profit municipal utility owned by the town. Electric trolley lines were built connecting Hudson with the towns of Leominster, Concord, and Marlborough, though these only remained in existence until the late 1920s.[2][5] The factories in town continued to grow, attracting immigrants from England, Germany, Portugal, Lithuania, Poland, Greece, Albania, and Italy. These immigrants usually lived in boarding houses near their places of employment. In 1928, nineteen languages were spoken by the workers of the Firestone-Apsley Rubber Company.[1]

Apsley Rubber Company in 1911

Today, the majority of Hudson residents are of Irish or Portuguese descent, with lesser populations of Brazilian, Italian, French, French Canadian, English, Scotch-Irish, Greek, and Polish descent. About one-third of Hudson residents are Portuguese or are of Portuguese descent.[2] Most people of Portuguese descent in Hudson are from the Azorean island of Santa Maria, with a smaller amount from the island of São Miguel or from the Trás-os-Montes region of mainland Portugal. The Portuguese community in Hudson maintains the Hudson Portuguese Club, which was established in 1919 and has outlived many other area ethnic clubs.[7] In 2003 the Hudson Portuguese Club replaced its original Port Street clubhouse with a function hall and restaurant built on the same site.

Hudson's population hovered around 8,000 from the 1920s to the 1950s, when developers purchased some farms surrounding the town center. The new houses built on this land helped double Hudson's population to 16,000 by 1970.[5]

During the 1990s high-technology companies built plants in Hudson, most notably the semiconductor factory built by Digital Equipment Corporation. Just before Digital folded in 1998, Intel bought this facility.[8] Under Intel's ownership, the plant continued producing silicon chips and wafers.

At the height of the Great Recession in the late 2000s, Hudson lost many local businesses. Particularly affected were the downtown commercial district and industrial establishments. Further bad news came in 2013 when Intel, Hudson's largest employer and charitable donor, announced it would close its Hudson semiconductor factory and layoff 700 employees by 2014.[9][10] Initially Intel tried to find a buyer for the facility, but when none came forward by 2015, Intel announced it would demolish the plant.[11][12] However, Intel's campus in Hudson includes an 850-person microprocessor research and development facility that did not close, and remains operational as of 2019.[8]

Since the mid-2010s Hudson's commercial downtown has witnessed an economic revitalization, with previously empty storefronts finding tenants. This is partly thanks to the town's increasing role as a regional culinary destination, including for craft beer.[13][14][15] Hudson's craft beer scene arguably began in 1980 when the Horseshoe Pub & Restaurant opened.[16] Horseshoe established itself as a beer lovers’ haven with an 80-beer tap line and Oktoberfest celebrations.[17] In 2012, the Hudson Rotary Club, Horseshoe Pub, and other local businesses organized the first Spirit of Hudson Food and Brewfest to showcase local restaurants and breweries. Since then, the event has evolved into a large food and beer fest featuring dozens of restaurants and breweries, from tiny local producers to internationally known craft beer stalwarts such as Harpoon and Stone Brewing.[18] The first microbrewery in Hudson, Medusa Brewing Company, opened downtown in 2015.[16] A second – Ground Effect Brewing Company – followed in 2018.[19]

Although Hudson's population is now about 20,000, the town maintains the traditional town meeting form of government.[2] Some light manufacturing and agricultural uses remain in the eastern end of town, a vestige of Hudson's dual agrarian and industrial history. However, today Hudson is a mostly suburban bedroom community with many residents commuting to Boston or Worcester.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 11.8 square miles (30.7 km²), of which 11.5 square miles (29.8 km²) is land and 0.3 square miles (0.9 km²) (2.87%) is water.

The Assabet River runs prominently through most of Hudson. The river arises from wetlands in Westborough and flows northeast 34 miles (55 km), starting at an elevation of 320 feet (98 m). It descends through the towns of Northborough, Marlborough, Berlin, Hudson, Stow, Maynard, Acton, and finally Concord, where it merges with the Sudbury River to form the Concord River, at an elevation of 100 feet (30 m). The dam in central Hudson is one of nine historic mill or flood control dams on the Assabet River. A portion of the Assabet River National Wildlife Refuge is located in Hudson.

There are various public access points to the Assabet River in Hudson. The back of the Hudson Public Library parking lot provides access to launch canoes and kayaks. Downstream is the dam, but upstream provides miles of flat water—depending on the season, as far southeast as the dam at Millham Brook in Marlborough. Another canoe and kayak launch exists farther upstream behind Hudson High School, accessible via an unpaved parking lot on Chapin Street. There is also boat access downstream of the dam at Main Street Landing, accessible from the paved Assabet River Rail Trail parking lot on Main Street, and providing a few miles of paddling northeast until the mill dam in the Stow section of Gleasondale.

On the border with Stow is Lake Boon, a popular vacation spot prior to the widespread adoption of the automobile but now a primarily residential neighborhood.

On the border with Marlborough is Fort Meadow Reservoir, which once provided drinking water to Hudson and Marlborough. The Town of Hudson owns and maintains Centennial Beach on the shores of Fort Meadow Reservoir. It is open to residents and non-residents for the cost of a daily or season pass, typically from June to August.

As of the 2000 census,[28] there were 18,113 people, 6,990 households, and 4,844 families residing in the town. The population density was 1,574.4 people per square mile (608.1/km²). There were 7,168 housing units at an average density of 623.0 per square mile (240.7/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 94.12% White, 0.91% Black or African American, 0.13% Native American, 1.40% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 1.40% from other races, and 1.98% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.06% of the population.

There were 6,990 households out of which 32.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.7% were married couples living together, 9.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.7% were non-families. 25.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.57 and the average family size was 3.11.

In the town, the population was spread out with 24.0% under the age of 18, 6.7% from 18 to 24, 33.5% from 25 to 44, 23.6% from 45 to 64, and 12.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 97.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.6 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $58,549, and the median income for a family was $70,145. Males had a median income of $45,504 versus $35,207 for females. The per capita income for the town was $26,679. About 2.7% of families and 4.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.8% of those under age 18 and 8.7% of those age 65 or over.

As of 2017 Census Bureau estimates, Hudson's population increased to 19,994. The town's racial makeup was 92.6% white, 1.3% Black or African American, 0.1% Native American, 2.7% Asian, and 2.5% from two or more races, with Hispanic or Latino people of any race making up 6.7% of the population.

Felton Street School in 1912, now converted into condominiums

Hudson's local public school district is Hudson Public Schools,[32] a district open to Hudson residents and through school choice to any area students. The superintendent of Hudson Public Schools is Dr. Marco C. Rodrigues. Prior to starting ninth grade Hudson students may choose to attend either Hudson High School or Assabet Valley Regional Technical High School.

Hudson Public Library in 1907, a Carnegie library opened in 1905

The first public library in Hudson opened in 1867 thanks to $500 in financial assistance from Charles Hudson and matching funds provided by the nascent town.[36][37] This first library was a modest reading room in the Brigham Block building and contained 721 books. In 1873 the library moved to a room in the newly-completed Hudson Town Hall. The current Hudson Public Library (HPL) building is a Carnegie library first built in 1905 using a $12,500 donation from Andrew Carnegie. It opened to the public on November 16, 1905.

The original structure was a two-story Beaux-Arts design typical of Carnegie libraries and other American public buildings of the early twentieth century. Despite numerous additions over time the Carnegie building is mostly intact, including its original front entrance and handsome main stair. The town added a third story to the building in 1932 for a total cost of $15,000. Today the third floor serves as a quiet reading room, and also houses the periodicals collection, a community meeting room, and staff offices. In 1966 a two-story Modernist addition was added at the rear of the original building, more than doubling the library's size. The children's department, housed on the library's first floor, was expanded and renovated in 2002. The second floor serves as the adults' and teens' department.

The Hudson Public Library's collection has grown to approximately 65,000 books, periodicals, audio recordings, video recordings, historical records, and other items as of 2019. As part of its collection HPL owns three oil paintings, each a portrait portraying one of the library's major benefactors: Charles Hudson, Lewis Dewart Apsley, and Andrew Carnegie. Apsley funded his own portrait as well as that of Charles Hudson, while the portrait of Carnegie was a 1932 gift from the Carnegie Corporation. These portraits are displayed on the landing of the stair going up to the third floor reading room.

Hudson Public Library is a member of the C/W MARS regional library consortium and catalog. This allows Hudson cardholders to borrow items from other central and western Massachusetts public libraries and gives cardholders from those libraries access to Hudson's collection. In fiscal year 2008, the Town of Hudson spent 1.19% ($614,743) of its budget on its public library—about $31 per person.[38]

Unitarian Church, built in 1861

Methodist-Episcopal Church after 1911 fire; it was replaced in 1913

Union Church of All Faiths

The majority of Hudson residents who practice a religion are likely Roman Catholics or Protestants, based on the churches existing in town.

A small portion of town residents are Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, or Orthodox, but there are not currently synagogues, mosques, temples, or Orthodox churches in Hudson. Nevertheless, the town lends its name to the 1907 Hudson Incident – a key event in the Albanian Orthodox Church’s formation – in which an Albanian nationalist died in Hudson and was refused burial rites by area Greek Orthodox priests.

The Portuguese Roman Catholics in Hudson hold annual feasts or festivals honoring and celebrating the Holy Ghost and Our Lady of Fátima, known in Portuguese as Festas do Espírito Santo and Festa da Nossa Senhora de Fátima, respectively. There are three related but distinct festas in Hudson: the Império Mariense, the lmpério Micaelense, and the Lady of Fátima Feast / Festa da Nossa Senhora de Fátima. The oldest of these is the Império Micaelense festival, which traces its origins to 1914.[39] Such festivals are a common religious and sociocultural event in the Azores and in Portuguese communities of Azorean descent throughout the United States, Canada, and Brazil.

Former Governor Paul Cellucci

• Lewis Dewart Apsley – founder of Apsley Rubber Company; U.S. Congressman from Massachusetts from 1893 to 1897[46]
• Nuno Bettencourt – rock musician; lead guitarist for the band Extreme[47]
• Matt Burke – former defensive coordinator for the Miami Dolphins, raised in Hudson and graduated from Hudson High School
• Paul Cellucci – Governor of Massachusetts from 1997 to 2001 and United States Ambassador to Canada from 2001 to 2005
• Shaye Cogan – singer, vaudevillian, and film actor popular in the 1950s
• William D. Coolidge – physicist who invented an improved X-ray tube, developed the tungsten filament for the incandescent light bulb, was vice-president of General Electric, and was elected to the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 1975
• Hugo Ferreira – rock musician; singer-songwriter for the band Tantric[47]
• Kevin Figueiredo – rock drummer; drummer for the band Extreme[48]
• Tony Frias – professional soccer player who has played for the New England Revolution, C.S. Marítimo, and S.C. Lusitânia[49]
• Evan Markopoulos – professional wrestler of TNA Gut Check fame
• Charles Precourt – retired U.S. astronaut[50]
• Wilbert Robinson – catcher for various Major League Baseball teams; best known for being manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1914 to 1931; inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1945; born in Bolton but raised in Hudson
• Paul Ryan – comic artist on Fantastic Four and The Phantom; born in Somerville but a long-time Hudson resident until his death in 2016
• Thomas P. Salmon – Governor of Vermont from 1973 to 1977; born in Cleveland, Ohio, raised in Stow, and attended Hudson High School
• William C. Sullivan – former head of FBI intelligence operations
• Lucy Goodale Thurston – one of the first American Protestant missionaries in Hawaii
• Burton Kendall Wheeler – U.S. Senator from Montana from 1923 to 1947[51]

• Assabet River Rail Trail
• Firestone-Apsley Rubber Company
• Gleasondale, Massachusetts
• Hudson Public Schools
• List of mill towns in Massachusetts

• Halprin, Lewis; The Hudson Historical Society (2001) [First published 1999]. Images of America: Hudson. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 0-7385-0073-9.
• Halprin, Lewis; The Hudson Historical Society (2008). Postcard History Series: Hudson. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7385-6284-1.
• The Hudson Historical Society (1976). Hudson Bicentennial Scrapbook. Private publication.

• Verdone, William L., and Lewis Halprin. (2005). Images of America: Hudson's National Guard Militia. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 0-7385-4456-6.
• Halprin, Lewis, and Alan Kattelle. (1998). Images of America: Lake Boon. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 0-7524-1292-2.
• 1871 Atlas of Massachusetts. by Wall & Gray. Map of Massachusetts. Map of Middlesex County.
• History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Volume 1 (A-H), Volume 2 (L-W) compiled by Samuel Adams Drake, published 1879–1880. 572 and 505 pages. Hudson article by Charles Hudson in volume 1 pages 496–505.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hudson, Massachusetts.

Wikisource has the text of a 1905 New International Encyclopedia article about Hudson, Massachusetts.

• Town of Hudson
• Hudson Public Library
• Town Profile on Massachusetts State Website
• 1870s Map of Hudson, 1 of 2
• 1870s Map of Hudson, 2 of 2
• Hudson, MA at Google Maps