An Idea Whose Time Seems Not to Have Come

The 1970s must have been an interesting time in Hudson. It was the decade that saw the demolition of the General Worth Hotel, the wholesale bulldozing of the historic buildings around Promenade Hill and much of the Second Ward, the construction of an abundance of subsidized housing, the facade easement program intended to preserve all that was then thought worthy of preservation (the first two blocks of Warren Street, but only the north side of the first block), and Rick Scalera's debut in city politics as a Republican candidate for Fourth Ward alderman.

The trove of old newspaper clippings given to Gossips by Susan Lynn Troy yields another glimpse of Hudson in the 1970s: the plan by a market in Hudson's officially recognized one and a half block historic district to recapture the spirit of Hudson's quaint past by making deliveries with a horse-drawn wagon. This article appeared in the Register-Star on December 1, 1977:

Horse for delivery of groceries

HUDSON--The return of a forgotten mode of delivering groceries is connected with the reported siting [sic] Wednesday of a horse behind the city's 32 Warren St. urban renewal offices.

John Moore of "Whale of a Place" grocery store at First and Warren Sts., confirmed today that he hoped to bring back horse-and-carriage delivery to the streets of the nation's first chartered city next spring.

A white Arabian pony is being kept in a barn behind the urban renewal offices, which are across First St. from the store. Care of the horse, which will pull a 100-year-old restored wagon, is a 4-H project for Moore's daughter, Nici Webber.

There is nothing in the city code that prohibits the keeping of horses in the city.

"Whale of a Place" is the former Liepshutz Market.

Three months later, in March 13, 1978, the Register-Star published this picture of the "white Arabian pony" and two other horses, whose names were Shiek, Timmy, and Polly, in the yard behind 102 Warren Street, now Fred E. Trout & Co.

The plan, as explained in the picture's caption, was to use the horses to pull a delivery cart "as soon as the weather permits," but no evidence could be found about how the plan worked out. Interestingly, there is still nothing in the city code that prohibits the keeping of horses in Hudson.