Return to Charlie's Corner

Last week, Gossips published an article that appeared in the Register-Star on June 27, 1990, whose lede read, "Burned-out eyesore Charlie's Corner at 5th and Warren streets was to come down today": "Thirty Years Ago in Hudson." The only photograph of the building I could find at the time was this one, from 1901, which shows the building in the background at the right.

Since then, I was reminded of this post card image of the corner, which provides a better view of the building that in 1990 was Charlie's Corner.

Soon after I published the post about Charlie's Corner, Bruce Mitchinson sent me these pictures, which show the buildings located at Warren and Fifth street in 1969, a bit closer to the time they were destroyed by fire.

The first one was taken from the vantage point of the church at 
448 Warren Street. The second was taken farther upstreet, at the lower end of the 500 block of Warren Street, looking back at the corner. (Note the transformed Central House across the street, only a few years before it was demolished in 1973.)

Both pictures were taken during the Loyalty Day Parade in 1969. For anyone who, like me, never heard of Loyalty Day, it happens on May 1. According to Wikipedia, "It is a day set aside 'for the reaffirmation of loyalty to the United States and for recognition of the heritage of American freedom.'" It was first observed in 1921, during the First Red Scare, and it was originally called "Americanization Day." It's not clear how often Loyalty Day was observed in Hudson, but it is interesting that it was observed in 1969, the year I remember best for protests against the Vietnam War and the moon landing.
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