HUDSON, formerly WILLOW RIVER, capital of St. Croix county, Wisconsin, on the eastern shore of Lake St. Croix, at the mouth of Willow river, about 225 miles N. W. from Madison. It contains (1853) 2 churches, a United States land-office, 6 stores, several mills, and 94 dwellings. (Baldwin's New and Complete Gazetteer of the United States..., 1854)
HUDSON, P. V. & C. H., (formerly Willow River,) in county of St. Croix, on section 24 and 25, town 29 N., of range 20 W., of the fourth principal meridian. It is 200 miles northwest from Madison. Population 500; 94 dwellings, 6 stores, 4 hotels, 2 churches, 4 denominations; 2 shoe, 1 harness, 3 blacksmith, 11 carpenter, 2 cabinet maker, 2 turner, and 2 tailor shops. It is beautifully located on an eminence gradually rising from the eastern bank of Lake St. Croix, surrounded by a farming country second to none in the Northwest, and is eligibly situated to command the lumbering interests of the St. Croix. In the winter season it is the only thoroughfare and mail route between Galena and Minnesota. It is rapidly increasing in population and wealth. It has in its vicinity 4 saw mills and 2 grist mills. The U. S. Land Office for the Chippewa district is located at this place. (John Warren Hunt, Wisconsin Gazetteer..., Madison, 1853)