Hudson, Illinois
Encyclopedia
Hudson is a village in McLean County
McLean County, Illinois
McLean County is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois. McLean County is included in the Bloomington–Normal, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 169,572, which is an increase of 12.7% from 150,433 in 2000. Its county seat is...

, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. The population was 1,838 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Bloomington
Bloomington, Illinois
Bloomington is a city in McLean County, Illinois, United States and the county seat. It is adjacent to Normal, Illinois, and is the more populous of the two principal municipalities of the Bloomington-Normal metropolitan area...

Normal
Normal, Illinois
Normal is an incorporated town in McLean County, Illinois, United States. It had a population of 52,497 as of the 2010 census. Normal is the smaller of two principal municipalities of the Bloomington-Normal metropolitan area...

 Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Geography

Hudson is located at 40.605723°N 88.987117°W.

According to the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...

, the village has a total area of 0.7 square miles (1.8 km²), all of it land.

Origin and naming

Hudson, Illinois was laid out by Horatio Petit on 13 August 1836. It was one of eight towns founded in McLean County
McLean County, Illinois
McLean County is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois. McLean County is included in the Bloomington–Normal, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 169,572, which is an increase of 12.7% from 150,433 in 2000. Its county seat is...

 during the great real estate boom that swept through central Illinois between 1835 to 1837. It also shares the distinction of being one of two "colonial" settlements in the county; the other was the Rhode Island colony in the southwestern part of the county. Traditional Sources say that the town was named for the town of Hudson, New York
Hudson, New York
Hudson is a city located along the west border of Columbia County, New York, United States. The city is named after the adjacent Hudson River and ultimately after the explorer Henry Hudson.Hudson is the county seat of Columbia County...

 in Columbia County which, so it was said, was the home of its early settlers. However, in her Book on the Hudson, Ruth Biting Hamm has pointed out that, while some settlers were from Queens County
Queens County
Queens County or Queen's County is the name of:*Queens County, New Brunswick, Canada*Queens County, Nova Scotia, Canada*Queens County, Prince Edward Island, Canada** former Queen's County...

, New York, none came from near the town of Hudson. She suggests that it is more likely town was simply named for the Hudson River
Hudson River
The Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...

.

The Illinois Land Association

Hudson was created by the Illinois Land Association who developed it as what was then called a colony. Colonial schemes such as this were popular in the 1830s. Rather than settlers migrating individually and buying land on their own, participants in a colony would band together, pool their money, appoint a committee to select a large tract of land, which would then be divided among the participants. Such colonial developments do not imply that the group had any common social or religious agenda. Sometimes, the people involved came from a single area but often, as was the case in Hudson, they were clusters of individuals who had no connection forming the colony: several of the founders of Hudson were from New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

, but others were from Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...

, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

 and Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

. The Illinois Land Association was formed in February 1836 in Jacksonville, Illinois
Jacksonville, Illinois
Jacksonville is a city in Morgan County, Illinois, United States. The population was 18,940 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Morgan County....

. Each participant would contribute $235 to the common pool and would receive four kinds of property: Three lots in the main part of the town; one out lot (see below); 160 acres (647,497.6 m²) of prairie land for farming; and 20 acres (80,937.2 m²) of timber for fences, firewood, and building material. The association also anticipated a profit from the sale of untaken land and this would be shared among the participants. An executive committee selected the land, supervised the laying out of the town, and presided the drawing of lots to select the division of the property.

Original town design

The 1836 plan of the town of Hudson was interesting in several respects. First, most central Illinois towns of the 1830s were laid around a central Public Square; but Hudson had none. Second, the town of Hudson had both "in lots" - and "out lots." The "in lots," formed the core of Hudson and were standard blocks of lots like any other town. These were surrounded by a ring of "out lots," which were slightly larger, but still part of the original town plan. At Hudson the "out lots" differ in size. The tradition of in and out lots goes back for centuries in New England, where farmers were reluctant to consign their livestock to locations far removed from the town center. These 'out lots" should not be confused with the far larger tracts of farming land that were also assigned to each settler. It is unclear why this out-of-date design should have been adopted at Hudson. The original town contained 30 blocks of "in lots" each of which contained eight lots; because each participant received several lots Hudson, even today, the houses in the older part of town are often much more widely spaced than in other towns founded at the same date. Broadway was designed as the main street of Hudson, and because of this was 120 feet (36.6 m) wide, while other streets were only 80 feet (24.4 m) wide. Eventually the "In lots" and the "out lots" came to be used in much the same way, as residential building sites.

Development

Immediately after its founding Hudson fell on hard times. In 1837 the land market turned sour, settlement slowed, and Illinois sank into a deep depression. The organizers of the colony found that they were unable to purchase the intended 20 acres (80,937.2 m²) of timber for each settler; earlier settlers had already purchased most of the availlable woodland. A few families received up to 20 acres (80,937.2 m²), but most were only given only 2.5 acres (10,117.2 m²); too little to supply their needs. Disputes arose concerning the division of profits from land sales. The number of settlers was fewer than expected. Only about twenty families moved onto the colony's land. They did manage to build a number of substantial frame houses. There was a nearby school and two churches, but the townsfolk had little business. All of this changed in 1854 when the Illinois Central Railroad
Illinois Central Railroad
The Illinois Central Railroad , sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, is a railroad in the central United States, with its primary routes connecting Chicago, Illinois with New Orleans, Louisiana and Birmingham, Alabama. A line also connected Chicago with Sioux City, Iowa...

 passed just west of Hudson. Business increased, many unoccupied lots taken up, and a new commercial district developed along what had been "out-lots" along the west side of the town facing the railroad. Some old traditions continued. Early in its history Hudson, following an ancient New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...

 custom had created the office of village heardsman. It was his job, at 6:00 in the morning, to walk the town streets, gather cattle from Hudson, and drive them out to pasture beyond the town limits; remarkably this job continued until 1913. Hamm, 1976, P.64.

Growth continues

With the arrival of the railroad the success of the town of Hudson was assured. The surrounding tall grass prairie proved to be some of the most fertile agricultural land in the world. Initially the crops were corn and oats, produced together with a great deal of livestock. In the 1850s and 1860s settlers came in great numbers. By the mid-twentieth century livestock production had slowly begun to decline and soybeans had replaced oats as a second crop, but the great fertility of the soil remained. Hudson's growth was slow but steady. In 1873 the town was incorporated. By 1883 telephone service had come to the town, and in 1912 the first electric lights were installed. In 1916 a new town hall was built. In the late twentieth century, because of its proximity to Bloomington and Normal, Hudson was becoming increasingly popular as a residential community. In 1992 Interstate 39
Interstate 39
Interstate 39 is a highway in the midwestern United States. I-39 runs from Normal, Illinois at Interstate 55 to Highway 29 in Rothschild, Wisconsin, approximately six miles south of Wausau. I-39 was designed to replace US Highway 51, which in the early 1980s was one of the busiest two-lane...

 was completed, connecting Hudson with El Paso
El Paso
El Paso, a city in the U.S. state of Texas, on the border with Mexico.El Paso may also refer to:-Geography:Colombia:* El Paso, CesarSpain:*El Paso, Santa Cruz de TenerifeUnited States:...

 and Normal.

Demographics

As of the census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...

of 2000, there were 1,510 people, 507 households, and 432 families residing in the village. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...

 was 2,272.1 people per square mile (883.4/km²). There were 519 housing units at an average density of 780.9 per square mile (303.6/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 98.48% White, 0.07% African American, 0.13% Native American, 0.46% Asian, 0.40% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

, and 0.46% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.06% of the population.

There were 507 households out of which 50.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 77.9% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...

 living together, 5.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 14.6% were non-families. 12.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 4.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.98 and the average family size was 3.25.

In the village the population was spread out with 33.2% under the age of 18, 5.0% from 18 to 24, 37.1% from 25 to 44, 18.5% from 45 to 64, and 6.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females there were 94.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.6 males.

The median income for a household in the village was $62,632, and the median income for a family was $65,703. Males had a median income of $45,385 versus $29,659 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...

 for the village was $22,141. About 1.8% of families and 1.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.0% of those under age 18 and none of those age 65 or over.

Notable people

Charles Jesse Jones (1844–1819), who was known as "Buffalo Jones," grew up in Hudson. He was a buffalo hunter, author, who is credited with helping save the American Bison.

Elbert Hubbard
Elbert Hubbard
Elbert Green Hubbard was an American writer, publisher, artist, and philosopher. Raised in Hudson, Illinois, he met early success as a traveling salesman with the Larkin soap company. Today Hubbard is mostly known as the founder of the Roycroft artisan community in East Aurora, New York, an...

 (1856–1915) grew up in Hudson, the son of Silas Hubbard who was a local medical doctor; he began his business career selling soap door to door. Hubbard later became famous for his essay "A Message of Garcia" and for founding the Roycroft
Roycroft
Roycroft was a reformist community of craft workers and artists which formed part of the Arts and Crafts movement in the USA. Elbert Hubbard founded the community in 1895 in the village of East Aurora, Erie County, New York, near Buffalo. Participants were known as Roycrofters...

 community in New York. Hubbard was lost in the sinking of the Lusitania
Lusitania
Lusitania or Hispania Lusitania was an ancient Roman province including approximately all of modern Portugal south of the Douro river and part of modern Spain . It was named after the Lusitani or Lusitanian people...

.

Melville Elijah Stone (1848–1929) was one of the foremost American journalists of the late nineteenth and twentieth century. He was owner of the Chicago Daily News and was general manager of the Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...

from 1893–1918.
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