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Hudson Historic District (New York)
Encyclopedia
The Hudson Historic District includes most of downtown Hudson
, New York, United States, once called "one of the richest dictionaries of architectural history
in New York State". It is a 139 acres (56.3 ha) area stretching from the city's waterfront on the east bank of the Hudson River
to almost its eastern boundary, with a core area of 45 blocks
. It has 756 contributing properties
, most of which date from the city's founding in 1785 to the mid-1930s. In 1985 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
.
It includes part of Hudson's original Front Street-Parade Hill-Lower Warren Street Historic District, excluding portions which were demolished soon after that district
was designated in 1970. It is one of the rare downtowns to have followed the grid plan
laid out by its 18th-century founders through the present day, and Warren Street, its main artery, is New York's most intact 19th-century main commercial street.
The oldest buildings in the district reflect the city's post-Revolutionary
origins as a safe harbor for New England
whalers, a past alluded to today by the whales on the street signs
. It later became an industrial center, with areas of worker housing and grand homes of factory owners in its downtown. In the early 20th century, the rise of officially-tolerated prostitution
on what is today Columbia Street made the city known as "the little town with the big red-light district
."
Historic preservation
efforts since the district's establishment have helped spur the city's economic renewal. Shortly after the district was designated, antiques dealers began setting up shops on Warren Street, leading eventually to what The New York Times
described as "the best antiques shopping in the Northeast
". Art galleries
followed, and many weekend visitors have relocated to Hudson full time, including some celebrities. The new arrivals have restored
old houses they have purchased. The city has established a Historic Preservation Commission to protect the district's historic character.
At South Third Street (NY 9G
/23B
), it excludes a modern building on the southeast corner of the intersection but then includes all the properties on the east side down to a former railroad right-of-way. A northern bulge includes the properties along North Fourth Street to State Street to take in the library, and on the north side of that intersection. At the eastern end the district boundary follows the railroad tracks to North Seventh Street, extends east along Warren Street, at that point part of US 9.
Here the district extends north of Warren again, taking in properties on North Sixth and North Seventh up to State Street, and part of Columbia Street as well. Another section juts out along Warren and Columbia to Eighth Street, just below the hospital and the nearby Rossman-Prospect Avenue Historic District
; this was an area that housed workers at a iron works to the north. After taking in part of Union Street, it meets the southern boundary at the former railroad tracks across from South Seventh Street.
The land within this district is heavily developed, with a mixed-use
character predominating. Storefronts predominate at street level in its core areas along Allen, Union and Warren streets. A few larger residences are located near the center of the district on those streets; smaller ones predominate on the quieter side streets. Public buildings like the Columbia County
courthouse and post office
are located around the junction of Warren and South Fourth. There are several churches and industrial buildings scattered throughout the district, and three major open areas: Promenade Park at the west end, Courthouse Square, and the square bounded by Columbia, North Seventh and Warren streets and Park Place in the east end.
cities in America. Long after its founders and their industry had died, their plan continued to guide its growth.
, Hudson was a small waterfront area with little development known as Claverack Landing. That began to change in 1783 when a group of New England
whalers, many of them Quakers, came west looking for somewhere they could put their ships where the British could not easily find them and destroy them. Claverack Landing, between what were then two small bays near the furthest point up the Hudson River
accessible to oceangoing ships, seemed ideal. They bought the land from a Dutch
settler in the area. Calling themselves the Proprietors, they divided the land into lots
of equal size and made an agreement that they would either settle their land themselves or sell it at cost.
By 1785 enough settlers had arrived from Nantucket and Rhode Island
that they were able to incorporate as a city, the first in New York since independence and the third in the state. They set aside the high ground today known as Promenade Hill overlooking the water at the district's west end as a "Parade", an open leisure ground for the citizens. Some disassembled their New England houses and reconstructed them on the 50 by lots they had divided their land into.
Those who built new homes used the vernacular
traditions of the New England ports they had come from, building center-chimney frame
houses such as 116 Union Street. They generally eschewed the Dutch traditions of the Hudson Valley
. The gambrel roof on 126 Union Street is not inspired by the many ones on Dutch buildings in the area but by older New England models.
They established the city's grid pattern of streets, long before many of them were built on or even built. Gangways 20 feet (6.1 m) wide were laid out between long streets, creating the alleys that still exist. Warren Street was intended to be the main commercial street, with Fourth providing the north-south axis. Three years after the city was founded, a visiting European described a thriving commercial city.
In 1800 the city had 4,000 residents, with the area out to Sixth Street established. Hudson remained within this grid for most of the next century. Within it a pattern was established that persists today, with the area north of Warren primarily home to the local working class and the blocks to the south the streets of the affluent.
brick houses on Front Street and the western sections of Union and Warren. Most remain within the New England structural models of the city's earliest houses, continuing to set Hudson's Federal buildings apart from those erected in surrounding communities. Later applications, like the Robert Jenkins House at 113 Warren, show the style's maturity with marble detailing, elliptical fanlights, and restrained proportions.
After the War of 1812
and the British blockade, the American whaling industry slackened for a while but then revived in the 1830s. This economic boom manifested itself architecturally with the Greek Revival
. Many were built, including a large concentration on Columbia Street east of Park Place. Notable single examples are the ornate
Curtis House at 32 Warren and the temple houses at 51 Partition Street and 738 Warren. Around 1850, the embrace of the Picturesque
mode changed the city's architectural mix, integrating it more closely with the region, where the Carpenter Gothic
style championed by Andrew Jackson Downing
had first gained popularity.
This boom subsided as petroleum
began to displace whale oil
throughout the 1840s. The construction of the Hudson River Railroad later in that decade cut the city off from its harbor, ending its days as a whaling center. But it, and the Erie Canal
-related traffic along the river, gave it new life as an industrial center. As in many other Northeastern cities, textile manufacturing
developed. Brickyard
s prospered as well, and the Allen Paper Car Wheel Works became the business associated with the city. The Cornelius H. Evans House
, at 414-416 Warren Street, is the most emblematic of this era of the city's development. It is a large brick Second Empire house that was home to a successful local brewer
/bottler and his family.
built across the street a decade later. The grid had become almost built out by this time, and the western areas, near the waterfront, were now heavily industrialized and less desirable as a residential neighborhood. There are a few examples of early 20th-century styles scattered around the district, such as the former YMCA building at 521 Union Street.
Most new development in the early 20th century was concentrated on Warren Street. Four churches and one school were built. During that time, the city's economy found a new mainstay: prostitution
. Old homes along Diamond Street were converted into brothel
s, until 15 were in operation. The city was known for its red-light district
around the country and even overseas. Gangsters like Legs Diamond were frequent customers, and their influence and the money they spread around helped foster the corruption
of local police and government officials that let the brothels flourish. It ended in 1950 when the state police
raided the brothels on Diamond, now renamed Columbia Street, and arrested many of their owners. Many never returned to the city and the brothels never reopened.
No new industry followed in the wake of their decline, and as the late 20th century began the city declined again. In 1970 the western portion of the current district was listed on the then-new National Register as the Front Street-Parade Hill-Lower Warren Street Historic District. The listing was not enough to prevent the demolition of some older structures on Front Street; and when the current district was created in 1985, those areas were excluded. A total of 48 properties from the previous district are extant and listed in the current one.
It meets once a month, or more often if its agenda requires. In addition to reviewing applications, it also considers city landmark designations
.
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...
, New York, United States, once called "one of the richest dictionaries of architectural history
Architectural History
Architectural History is the main journal of the Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain .The journal is published each autumn. The architecture of the British Isles is a major theme of the journal, although it includes more general papers on the history of architecture. Member of...
in New York State". It is a 139 acres (56.3 ha) area stretching from the city's waterfront on the east bank of 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...
to almost its eastern boundary, with a core area of 45 blocks
City block
A city block, urban block or simply block is a central element of urban planning and urban design. A city block is the smallest area that is surrounded by streets. City blocks are the space for buildings within the street pattern of a city, they form the basic unit of a city's urban fabric...
. It has 756 contributing properties
Contributing property
In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing resource or contributing property is any building, structure, or object which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic district, listed locally or federally, significant...
, most of which date from the city's founding in 1785 to the mid-1930s. In 1985 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
.
It includes part of Hudson's original Front Street-Parade Hill-Lower Warren Street Historic District, excluding portions which were demolished soon after that district
Historic district (United States)
In the United States, a historic district is a group of buildings, properties, or sites that have been designated by one of several entities on different levels as historically or architecturally significant. Buildings, structures, objects and sites within a historic district are normally divided...
was designated in 1970. It is one of the rare downtowns to have followed the grid plan
Grid plan
The grid plan, grid street plan or gridiron plan is a type of city plan in which streets run at right angles to each other, forming a grid...
laid out by its 18th-century founders through the present day, and Warren Street, its main artery, is New York's most intact 19th-century main commercial street.
The oldest buildings in the district reflect the city's post-Revolutionary
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
origins as a safe harbor for 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...
whalers, a past alluded to today by the whales on the street signs
Street signs
-Road identity street sign:A street sign is a type of traffic sign used to identify named roads, generally those that do not qualify as expressways or highways. Street signs are most often found posted at intersections, and are usually in perpendicularly oriented pairs identifying each of the...
. It later became an industrial center, with areas of worker housing and grand homes of factory owners in its downtown. In the early 20th century, the rise of officially-tolerated prostitution
Prostitution in the United States
Prostitution in the United States is illegal except in some small rural communities in Nevada. In the United States, each state has the power to regulate prostitution in that state. Only in parts of Nevada is prostitution legal. In all other states prostitution is usually classified as a...
on what is today Columbia Street made the city known as "the little town with the big red-light district
Red-light district
A red-light district is a part of an urban area where there is a concentration of prostitution and sex-oriented businesses, such as sex shops, strip clubs, adult theaters, etc...
."
Historic preservation
Historic preservation
Historic preservation is an endeavor that seeks to preserve, conserve and protect buildings, objects, landscapes or other artifacts of historical significance...
efforts since the district's establishment have helped spur the city's economic renewal. Shortly after the district was designated, antiques dealers began setting up shops on Warren Street, leading eventually to what The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
described as "the best antiques shopping in the Northeast
Northeastern United States
The Northeastern United States is a region of the United States as defined by the United States Census Bureau.-Composition:The region comprises nine states: the New England states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont; and the Mid-Atlantic states of New...
". Art galleries
Art gallery
An art gallery or art museum is a building or space for the exhibition of art, usually visual art.Museums can be public or private, but what distinguishes a museum is the ownership of a collection...
followed, and many weekend visitors have relocated to Hudson full time, including some celebrities. The new arrivals have restored
Building restoration
Building restoration describes a particular treatment approach and philosophy within the field of architectural conservation. According the U.S...
old houses they have purchased. The city has established a Historic Preservation Commission to protect the district's historic character.
Geography
The district is irregularly shaped but generally follows the northwest-southeast rectangle of the city's grid, centering with the nine-by-five-block area along Warren Steet, Hudson's main artery, which is almost entirely within it, and The western end takes in the area on the west side of Front Street and the city's waterfront. A block of Warren connects this one to central area of the district, bounded by the rear property lines on Warren in the north and Allen Street to the south. It contains 748 contributing buildings, five contributing structures and three contributing objects.At South Third Street (NY 9G
New York State Route 9G
New York State Route 9G is a state highway in the Hudson Valley of New York in the United States. It runs north from U.S. Route 9 at Poughkeepsie, starting out as Violet Avenue, then follows the Hudson River mostly along the eastern side of the US 9 to Rhinebeck, where the two...
/23B
New York State Route 23B
New York State Route 23B is an east–west state highway located in western Columbia County, New York, in the United States. The route is a former section of NY 23 that runs for from NY 9G southwest of Hudson to NY 9H in Claverack...
), it excludes a modern building on the southeast corner of the intersection but then includes all the properties on the east side down to a former railroad right-of-way. A northern bulge includes the properties along North Fourth Street to State Street to take in the library, and on the north side of that intersection. At the eastern end the district boundary follows the railroad tracks to North Seventh Street, extends east along Warren Street, at that point part of US 9.
Here the district extends north of Warren again, taking in properties on North Sixth and North Seventh up to State Street, and part of Columbia Street as well. Another section juts out along Warren and Columbia to Eighth Street, just below the hospital and the nearby Rossman-Prospect Avenue Historic District
Rossman-Prospect Avenue Historic District
The Rossman-Prospect Avenue Historic District is a small residential neighborhood located near the eastern end of the city of Hudson, New York, United States. Its houses were primarily built in the late 19th and early 20th centuries...
; this was an area that housed workers at a iron works to the north. After taking in part of Union Street, it meets the southern boundary at the former railroad tracks across from South Seventh Street.
The land within this district is heavily developed, with a mixed-use
Mixed-use development
Mixed-use development is the use of a building, set of buildings, or neighborhood for more than one purpose. Since the 1920s, zoning in some countries has required uses to be separated. However, when jobs, housing, and commercial activities are located close together, a community's transportation...
character predominating. Storefronts predominate at street level in its core areas along Allen, Union and Warren streets. A few larger residences are located near the center of the district on those streets; smaller ones predominate on the quieter side streets. Public buildings like the Columbia County
Columbia County, New York
Columbia County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 63,096. The county seat is Hudson. The name comes from the Latin feminine form of the name of Christopher Columbus, which was at the time of the formation of the county a popular proposal...
courthouse and post office
U.S. Post Office (Hudson, New York)
The U.S. Post Office in Hudson, New York, United States, is located on Union Street at the corner of South Fourth Street, just across from the Columbia County courthouse. It serves the ZIP Code 12534, which covers the city of Hudson and surrounding areas of the Town of Greenport.It was built from...
are located around the junction of Warren and South Fourth. There are several churches and industrial buildings scattered throughout the district, and three major open areas: Promenade Park at the west end, Courthouse Square, and the square bounded by Columbia, North Seventh and Warren streets and Park Place in the east end.
History
Hudson was one of the first plannedUrban planning
Urban planning incorporates areas such as economics, design, ecology, sociology, geography, law, political science, and statistics to guide and ensure the orderly development of settlements and communities....
cities in America. Long after its founders and their industry had died, their plan continued to guide its growth.
18th century
For most of the colonial period and during the RevolutionAmerican Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
, Hudson was a small waterfront area with little development known as Claverack Landing. That began to change in 1783 when a group of 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...
whalers, many of them Quakers, came west looking for somewhere they could put their ships where the British could not easily find them and destroy them. Claverack Landing, between what were then two small bays near the furthest point up 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...
accessible to oceangoing ships, seemed ideal. They bought the land from a Dutch
Dutch colonization of the Americas
Dutch trading posts and plantations in the Americas precede the much wider known colonization activities of the Dutch in Asia. Whereas the first Dutch fort in Asia was built in 1600 , the first forts and settlements on the Essequibo river in Guyana and on the Amazon date from the 1590s...
settler in the area. Calling themselves the Proprietors, they divided the land into lots
Lot (real estate)
In real estate, a lot or plot is a tract or parcel of land owned or meant to be owned by some owner. A lot is essentially considered a parcel of real property in some countries or immovable property in other countries...
of equal size and made an agreement that they would either settle their land themselves or sell it at cost.
By 1785 enough settlers had arrived from Nantucket and Rhode Island
Rhode Island
The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...
that they were able to incorporate as a city, the first in New York since independence and the third in the state. They set aside the high ground today known as Promenade Hill overlooking the water at the district's west end as a "Parade", an open leisure ground for the citizens. Some disassembled their New England houses and reconstructed them on the 50 by lots they had divided their land into.
Those who built new homes used the vernacular
Vernacular architecture
Vernacular architecture is a term used to categorize methods of construction which use locally available resources and traditions to address local needs and circumstances. Vernacular architecture tends to evolve over time to reflect the environmental, cultural and historical context in which it...
traditions of the New England ports they had come from, building center-chimney frame
Framing (construction)
Framing, in construction known as light-frame construction, is a building technique based around structural members, usually called studs, which provide a stable frame to which interior and exterior wall coverings are attached, and covered by a roof comprising horizontal ceiling joists and sloping...
houses such as 116 Union Street. They generally eschewed the Dutch traditions of the Hudson Valley
Hudson Valley
The Hudson Valley comprises the valley of the Hudson River and its adjacent communities in New York State, United States, from northern Westchester County northward to the cities of Albany and Troy.-History:...
. The gambrel roof on 126 Union Street is not inspired by the many ones on Dutch buildings in the area but by older New England models.
They established the city's grid pattern of streets, long before many of them were built on or even built. Gangways 20 feet (6.1 m) wide were laid out between long streets, creating the alleys that still exist. Warren Street was intended to be the main commercial street, with Fourth providing the north-south axis. Three years after the city was founded, a visiting European described a thriving commercial city.
In 1800 the city had 4,000 residents, with the area out to Sixth Street established. Hudson remained within this grid for most of the next century. Within it a pattern was established that persists today, with the area north of Warren primarily home to the local working class and the blocks to the south the streets of the affluent.
19th century
The early years of the new century saw the children of the city's founders build their homes in the new Federal style. The earliest are the many two-story, five-bayBay (architecture)
A bay is a unit of form in architecture. This unit is defined as the zone between the outer edges of an engaged column, pilaster, or post; or within a window frame, doorframe, or vertical 'bas relief' wall form.-Defining elements:...
brick houses on Front Street and the western sections of Union and Warren. Most remain within the New England structural models of the city's earliest houses, continuing to set Hudson's Federal buildings apart from those erected in surrounding communities. Later applications, like the Robert Jenkins House at 113 Warren, show the style's maturity with marble detailing, elliptical fanlights, and restrained proportions.
After the War of 1812
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
and the British blockade, the American whaling industry slackened for a while but then revived in the 1830s. This economic boom manifested itself architecturally with the Greek Revival
Greek Revival architecture
The Greek Revival was an architectural movement of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in Northern Europe and the United States. A product of Hellenism, it may be looked upon as the last phase in the development of Neoclassical architecture...
. Many were built, including a large concentration on Columbia Street east of Park Place. Notable single examples are the ornate
Ornament (architecture)
In architecture and decorative art, ornament is a decoration used to embellish parts of a building or object. Large figurative elements such as monumental sculpture and their equivalents in decorative art are excluded from the term; most ornament does not include human figures, and if present they...
Curtis House at 32 Warren and the temple houses at 51 Partition Street and 738 Warren. Around 1850, the embrace of the Picturesque
Picturesque
Picturesque is an aesthetic ideal introduced into English cultural debate in 1782 by William Gilpin in Observations on the River Wye, and Several Parts of South Wales, etc. Relative Chiefly to Picturesque Beauty; made in the Summer of the Year 1770, a practical book which instructed England's...
mode changed the city's architectural mix, integrating it more closely with the region, where the Carpenter Gothic
Carpenter Gothic
Carpenter Gothic, also sometimes called Carpenter's Gothic, and Rural Gothic, is a North American architectural style-designation for an application of Gothic Revival architectural detailing and picturesque massing applied to wooden structures built by house-carpenters...
style championed by Andrew Jackson Downing
Andrew Jackson Downing
Andrew Jackson Downing was an American landscape designer, horticulturalist, and writer, a prominent advocate of the Gothic Revival style in the United States, and editor of The Horticulturist magazine...
had first gained popularity.
This boom subsided as petroleum
Petroleum
Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling...
began to displace whale oil
Whale oil
Whale oil is the oil obtained from the blubber of various species of whales, particularly the three species of right whale and the bowhead whale prior to the modern era, as well as several other species of baleen whale...
throughout the 1840s. The construction of the Hudson River Railroad later in that decade cut the city off from its harbor, ending its days as a whaling center. But it, and the Erie Canal
Erie Canal
The Erie Canal is a waterway in New York that runs about from Albany, New York, on the Hudson River to Buffalo, New York, at Lake Erie, completing a navigable water route from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes. The canal contains 36 locks and encompasses a total elevation differential of...
-related traffic along the river, gave it new life as an industrial center. As in many other Northeastern cities, textile manufacturing
Textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution
The industrial revolution changed the nature of work and society. Opinion varies as to the exact date, but it is estimated that the First Industrial Revolution took place between 1750 and 1850, and the second phase or Second Industrial Revolution between 1860 and 1900. The three key drivers in...
developed. Brickyard
Brickyard
A brickyard is a place or yard where the earthen building material called bricks are made, fired, and stored, or sometimes sold or otherwise distributed from.-See also:...
s prospered as well, and the Allen Paper Car Wheel Works became the business associated with the city. The Cornelius H. Evans House
Cornelius H. Evans House
The Cornelius H. Evans House is located on Warren Street in downtown Hudson, New York, United States. It is a brick house dating to the mid-19th century....
, at 414-416 Warren Street, is the most emblematic of this era of the city's development. It is a large brick Second Empire house that was home to a successful local brewer
Brewing
Brewing is the production of beer through steeping a starch source in water and then fermenting with yeast. Brewing has taken place since around the 6th millennium BCE, and archeological evidence suggests that this technique was used in ancient Egypt...
/bottler and his family.
20th century
The industries launched in the 19th century had begun to decline by that century's end, but the city's economy remained strong. Warren & Wetmore designed a new county courthouse in 1900, and its Classical Revival design was echoed by smaller porticoes on the new post officeU.S. Post Office (Hudson, New York)
The U.S. Post Office in Hudson, New York, United States, is located on Union Street at the corner of South Fourth Street, just across from the Columbia County courthouse. It serves the ZIP Code 12534, which covers the city of Hudson and surrounding areas of the Town of Greenport.It was built from...
built across the street a decade later. The grid had become almost built out by this time, and the western areas, near the waterfront, were now heavily industrialized and less desirable as a residential neighborhood. There are a few examples of early 20th-century styles scattered around the district, such as the former YMCA building at 521 Union Street.
Most new development in the early 20th century was concentrated on Warren Street. Four churches and one school were built. During that time, the city's economy found a new mainstay: prostitution
Prostitution in the United States
Prostitution in the United States is illegal except in some small rural communities in Nevada. In the United States, each state has the power to regulate prostitution in that state. Only in parts of Nevada is prostitution legal. In all other states prostitution is usually classified as a...
. Old homes along Diamond Street were converted into brothel
Brothel
Brothels are business establishments where patrons can engage in sexual activities with prostitutes. Brothels are known under a variety of names, including bordello, cathouse, knocking shop, whorehouse, strumpet house, sporting house, house of ill repute, house of prostitution, and bawdy house...
s, until 15 were in operation. The city was known for its red-light district
Red-light district
A red-light district is a part of an urban area where there is a concentration of prostitution and sex-oriented businesses, such as sex shops, strip clubs, adult theaters, etc...
around the country and even overseas. Gangsters like Legs Diamond were frequent customers, and their influence and the money they spread around helped foster the corruption
Political corruption
Political corruption is the use of legislated powers by government officials for illegitimate private gain. Misuse of government power for other purposes, such as repression of political opponents and general police brutality, is not considered political corruption. Neither are illegal acts by...
of local police and government officials that let the brothels flourish. It ended in 1950 when the state police
New York State Police
The New York State Police is the state police force of over 4,600 sworn Troopers for the state of New York. It was established on April 11, 1917 by the New York Legislature, in response to the 1913 murder of a construction foreman named Sam Howell in Westchester County, which at that time did not...
raided the brothels on Diamond, now renamed Columbia Street, and arrested many of their owners. Many never returned to the city and the brothels never reopened.
No new industry followed in the wake of their decline, and as the late 20th century began the city declined again. In 1970 the western portion of the current district was listed on the then-new National Register as the Front Street-Parade Hill-Lower Warren Street Historic District. The listing was not enough to prevent the demolition of some older structures on Front Street; and when the current district was created in 1985, those areas were excluded. A total of 48 properties from the previous district are extant and listed in the current one.
Significant contributing properties
Two of the buildings within the district have been listed on the National Register in their own right, one prior to its creation and one since. Several others are notable within it.National Register of Historic Places
- Cornelius H. Evans HouseCornelius H. Evans HouseThe Cornelius H. Evans House is located on Warren Street in downtown Hudson, New York, United States. It is a brick house dating to the mid-19th century....
: This 1861 brick Second Empire house at 414-416 Warren Street was built by a local brewer, later twice elected mayor, and remains one of the city's best-known. In 1974 it became the first building in downtown Hudson to be listed on the Register. - U.S. Post OfficeU.S. Post Office (Hudson, New York)The U.S. Post Office in Hudson, New York, United States, is located on Union Street at the corner of South Fourth Street, just across from the Columbia County courthouse. It serves the ZIP Code 12534, which covers the city of Hudson and surrounding areas of the Town of Greenport.It was built from...
: This 1911 brick building at 402 Union Street is one of twelve in New York designed by James Knox Taylor, supervising architect for the Treasury DepartmentUnited States Department of the TreasuryThe Department of the Treasury is an executive department and the treasury of the United States federal government. It was established by an Act of Congress in 1789 to manage government revenue...
in the early 20th century. He had begun to introduce classical ornamentation to the brick Colonial RevivalColonial Revival architectureThe Colonial Revival was a nationalistic architectural style, garden design, and interior design movement in the United States which sought to revive elements of Georgian architecture, part of a broader Colonial Revival Movement in the arts. In the early 1890s Americans began to value their own...
style preferred for post offices, and designed for Hudson two Roman-inspired porticoes similar to those on the county courthouse across the square. In 1988 it was one of the many New York post offices listed on the Register from a statewide Multiple Property Submission.
Others
- Columbia County Courthouse: A 1900 Classical RevivalNeoclassicismNeoclassicism is the name given to Western movements in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that draw inspiration from the "classical" art and culture of Ancient Greece or Ancient Rome...
structure, designed by Warren & Wetmore, fronting on Courthouse Square from the south. - Commercial building at 260 Warren Street: A rare surviving Greek RevivalGreek Revival architectureThe Greek Revival was an architectural movement of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in Northern Europe and the United States. A product of Hellenism, it may be looked upon as the last phase in the development of Neoclassical architecture...
commercial building with stone post and lintels. - House at 116 Union Street: This is one of the strongest examples of New England vernacular architecture from the city's early days, built around 1785.
- Old City Hall: This late (1854) Greek RevivalGreek Revival architectureThe Greek Revival was an architectural movement of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in Northern Europe and the United States. A product of Hellenism, it may be looked upon as the last phase in the development of Neoclassical architecture...
brick building at 327 Warren Street was the most important public building in the district for many years. - Robert Jenkins House: A brick Federal house of one of the city's early mayors at 113 Warren Street. This is one of the most mature examples of the style in Hudson.
Preservation
In 2003 the city created a Historic Preservation Commission to review applications for new construction in the district, or exterior modifications to existing buildings that go beyond routine maintenance. It consists of seven members appointed by the mayor. At least one must be an architect, one a historian, and one live in the district. All must have an interest in preservation.It meets once a month, or more often if its agenda requires. In addition to reviewing applications, it also considers city landmark designations
Designated (landmarks)
A designated landmark is an officially recognized historic building or structure. For historic landmarks or places in the United States, the terms "designated" and "designation" have official meanings, as determined by U.S. government agencies or a local Landmarks Preservation Commission or...
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