What's in a Name?

People sometimes add a final e to Green in Green Street, but that is a mistake. Green Street was not named for Greene County or for the Revolutionary War hero Nathanael Greene, for whom Greene County was named. Rather, with the same simplicity that gave Fairview Avenue its name because you could see the fairgrounds from there, Green Street was named so because it was a very green place.

Anna Bradbury, in her History of the City of Hudson, New York, tells that in 1798 what is now Green Street was "a road through a piece of woods leading from the County road." It was the way traveled to get to the burying ground. A hundred years later, around 1890, that road through the woods, now officially called Green Street, was dotted with houses.

Green Street has suffered since the advent of the automobile. At some point in the 20th century, some of the houses along the street were sacrificed to build three car dealerships. Others were demolished to create parking lots or converted to commercial uses. The two truck routes through Hudson converge on Green Street, making the street that was once so verdant and luxuriant as to merit the name Green Street the most heavily traveled street in the city.

COPYRIGHT 2014 CAROLE OSTERINK