Film Noir Hudson

Attention to the oil tanks that once graced Hudson's waterfront cannot fail to remind people of the 1959 film Odds Against Tomorrow, which was filmed primarily in Hudson and climaxes with a shootout between the characters played by Robert Ryan and Harry Belafonte on the oil tanks down by the river. The gunfire sets the tanks on fire and causes a huge explosion. Remembering the film prompted Tom D'Onofrio to send Gossips these stills from the movie.

The tanks, which were erected on the waterfront in 1949, were removed in 1997, with funding provided through the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation Local Waterfront Revitalization Program. 

Women's Fashion in 1905

When Gossips published this image of the building that is now City Hall, which presumably shows the building soon after it was completed in 1907, a reader commented that the women's attire seemed more appropriate to the 1880s than to the first decade of the 20th century. This comment inspired Gossips to wonder what women's fashions were like in the year we've been focused on for the past several weeks: 1905. A little research discovered this page from a 1905 issue of McCall's magazine.

   
You decide if the ladies crossing the street in front of the new National Hudson River Bank are appropriately dressed for 1907.

Hudson in 1905: Part 61

The following is an excerpt from the booklet Illustrated Hudson, N.Y., published in 1905.

CHARLES S. ROGERS--Wholesale Grocer. No. 743 and 745 Columbia street. Mr. Rogers enjoys the enviable reputation of possessing the oldest and largest wholesale grocery house in the city of Hudson, having been in successful operation for fifty years and more. There is no doubt as to the prestige that he has acquired in this long period, for he supplies all the dealers, both in the city and the surrounding towns. He carries a large and extensive line of heavy and fancy groceries, including the best brands of teas and coffees, spices, canned and bottled goods of all descriptions, country produce, flours and all other goods that a first-class wholesale grocery house is supposed to carry in stock. In addition to these regular goods, Mr. Rogers also deals in straw and manilla wrapping paper and paper bags, together with a full line of liquors, also for the wholesale trade of the house. The premises occupied are most ample in proportions, consisting of a three-story building, with warehouses and storage sheds, and accommodations for the teams of all out-of-town customers. It necessitates the employment of some ten men and the use of two wagons for the delivery of orders. Mr. Rogers is a man of the finest and most upright business integrity and is assured of the confidence of his numerous customers. He is a native of Hudson.

Establishment of  C. S. Rogers, Wholesale Grocer, from Illustrated Hudson, N.Y.

743-745 Columbia Street today--Hudson River Home

Friday at the HPC

It is the Historic Preservation Commission's practice to hear applications for certificates of appropriateness on the second Friday of the month and to take an official vote on granting or denying approval to projects on the fourth Friday of the month. In the intervening two weeks, city attorney Cheryl Roberts, counsel to the HPC, writes the document for each project, defining the scope of work, explaining, with reference to Chapter 169 of the city code, the basis for approving or denying the certificate of appropriateness, and enumerating any conditions or contingencies for approval. Given that schedule, yesterday was the day for the HPC to vote on the four projects that came before them on October 12.

The votes to approve in-kind repairs to 455-457 Warren Street and new storm windows for 322 Union Street were perfunctory. The HPC had a problem, though, with the proposal for 255 Warren Street. At its last meeting, the HPC had requested additional information about materials and the design. This information had been provided, but Jack Alvarez, the architect member of the HPC, had continuing concerns about ADA compliance and suggested that the project needed to come back before the HPC after the design had been approved for handicapped accessibility. HPC chair Rick Rector stressed that it was not within the HPC's purview to worry about ADA compliance and maintained that code enforcement officer Peter Wurster had already approved the design for all building code issues. HPC member Phil Forman offered the opinion that he didn't see how changes to the design made for ADA compliance would affect the HPC's decision. 

After some discussion, HPC member Tony Thompson suggested that the HPC grant a certificate of appropriateness with the condition that, if ADA compliance required radical changes to the design, the proposal would have to come back to the HPC for review. It was finally decided that the HPC would follow the course of action suggested by Thompson, and a certificate of appropriateness was unanimously approved with that condition. 

On the subject of the request to cover the leaded glass frieze at 307 Warren Street with wood to relieve the stress on the window and to protect it from further deterioration, Alvarez said that he had consulted a stained glass expert who confirmed that "to repair the window would also destroy it." The HPC was divided in its vote on this project. Thompson voted nay; former chair David Voorhees abstained because he had not been present when the proposal was presented; the rest of the HPC members--Rector, Forman, Alvarez, Scott Baldinger, and Peggy Polenberg approved granting a certificate of appropriateness to the project.

Where Did All the Buildings Go?

This aerial picture shows the Hudson waterfront probably sometime in the second quarter of the 20th century. There are vehicles in the picture, so we can infer it was taken after the advent of the motorcar--and the airplane. What's remarkable is the number of buildings at the waterfront, around Ferry Street and south of it. Compare that with this aerial picture, discovered by Dan Seward and, thanks to Stephanie Monseu, shared with Gossips.

This picture was probably taken in the early 1970s. Bliss Towers has been built. The Hudson Terrace apartments are in place, looking strangely dark to those of us who remember them with powder blue vinyl siding. The area from Columbia Street to State Street below Second is devoid of structures, as is the south side of the first block of Warren Street. On the waterfront, all the buildings are gone and oil tanks have taken their place. When and how did this happen?

The photo caption reads:

A Contrast: The New And The Old Photographer Wendy Neefus of Neefus Studios, Hudson, captured this view of Hudson from the air showing the river-front middle income housing development, the Warren St. historic rehabilitation district behind which parts of the sale housing constructed by Channing Corp. may be seen, and the high rise low income housing complex at the right, an area adjoining some of the oldest structures in Hudson. At the far left is the city's boat launch site, and, in the foreground, the railroad station that will be undergoing a renovations [sic] that also will include new parking facilities. The bare section of Warren St., center right, will be the site of a neighborhood shopping center.

Mark Your Calendars

A special meeting of the Common Council has been called for Monday, October 29, at 7:30 p.m. at City Hall. The purpose of the meeting is "to discuss potential land sales within the 2013 City Budget."

Hudson in 1905: Part 60

The following is an excerpt from the booklet Illustrated Hudson, N.Y., published in 1905.

F. A. STUPPLEBEEN--Dealer in Wagons, Carriages, Sleighs, Etc. No. 513-515 Diamond street. Telephone H. R. 1117-L, Col. 117. The above concern has been established for the past fifteen years, during which period a large and successful business has been built up. Mr. Stupplebeen is a man of extraordinary ability in carriage making, and will always be found in attendance at the shop. He knows a good vehicle when he sees it, and will handle none except the best manufactures of wagons, carriages, sleighs, harness, blankets, and robes. The premises occupied consist of two floors, each measuring 95 by 48 feet. His display of vehicles, etc., is always open to the public for inspection. A number of salesmen are on hand ready and pleased to show the goods. The trade of the house extends over a large portion of the State, and men are on the road representing the business. Mr Stupplebeen is also the agent for all kinds of rubber tires. He is a native of this city and one of the best know merchants.

Repository of F. A. Stubblebeen, Carriages and Wagons from Illustrated Hudson

513-515 Columbia Street today--Keegan's Antique Restoration & Custom Design

Gossips Comment: Comparing this building then and now presents a strong argument for the importance of fenestration to a building's design.

An Image of the Past

Yesterday's post about the Raleigh Dining Room, which occupied a building at 520 Warren Street now gone, prompted Bob Rasner to send this quaint post card image of the building that replaced it in 1907, which is now City Hall, in its earliest days.

Of Interest

Dan Grandinetti, former Third Ward supervisor, former youth director, former mayoral candidate, former Hudson resident, shares his opinion about where city government should be investing taxpayer money in today's Register-Star: "MY VIEW: Addressing intergenerational issues."

Hudson in 1905: Part 59

The following is an excerpt from the booklet Illustrated Hudson, N.Y., published in 1905.

RALEIGH DINING ROOM--No. 520 Warren street. There is no more up-to-date restaurant in the city than the one conducted by Mr. A. N. David, and popularly designated as the Raleigh Dining Room. Mr. David has been established in the business here for the past three months only, during which short period he has succeeded in building up a large, profitable and enduring patronage. The restaurant is centrally located, has a capacity for seventy-five people, and is fitted up in an elegant and inviting manner. All dishes are prepared with skill and in accordance with the best methods known to the culinary arts, and that, too, from the freshest foodstuffs that the market affords. Oysters are served in every style, as well as steaks, chops, fish, vegetables, and a long line of miscellaneous dishes. Mr. David has had twenty-five years' experience as a caterer, and is thoroughly competent. Meals are served at all hours, and American, French and Italian cooking may be ordered. The Raleigh Dining Room is known as a cool, cozy, respectable place for ladies and gentlemen to assemble and partake of the finest and most delicately prepared eatables to be found in the city. Special attention given to wedding receptions and parties.

520 Warren Street today--City Hall

Gossips Note: The bank building that is now City Hall was built in 1907. The building that preceded it at that address and would have been the location of the Raleigh Dining Room can be seen at the right in this picture of Baker Row--the four houses just west of City Hall--found in the Hudson directory for 1905.

A Place for the Police

Once upon a time, the Hudson Police Department was headquartered at 327 Warren Street--then City Hall, now the Hudson Opera House. When City Hall fled upstreet to a former bank building in 1962, the HPD moved to its current location in the 400 block of Warren Street. For at least twenty of the past fifty years, there have been complaints about how inadequate the buildings are that house both the police department and the adjacent city court. Over the past ten years, there have been several attempts to create new quarters for law and order in Hudson, but none has achieved the desired goal.  

Gossips Note: A reader who has been in Hudson much longer than I have just informed me that when City Hall moved to 520 Warren Street, the police department moved there, too, and for the next ten or so years was located where the city treasurer's office is now with an entrance from Prison Alley.  

Now it seems that city officials are once again actively pursuing a new facility for the police department and city court. The current plan involves acquiring and adapting an existing building, but so far no one is revealing publicly what building they're considering. While we wait for that revelation, let's review the possibilities that have been considered over the past ten years.

The Charles Williams School was one of several schools that the Hudson City School District sold to Columbia County for $1 each or some other token amount. The County used it first as the headquarters for the Sheriff's Department and later for the offices of its various health departments. In 2002 or thereabout, when the County decided to build a new office building for these departments, the County swapped the former school building with the City for the land on which 325 Columbia Street was built. The City took the building with apparently no idea of what to do with it. The first scheme was to adapt it to house the police department and the city court.

The adaptive reuse of Charles Williams School was a plan promoted by former DPW superintendent Charlie Butterworth, but then mayor Rick Scalera had other ideas. In 2003 and 2004, Hudson was buzzing with new construction--the central firehouse, 325 Columbia Street, the medical office building and parking garage at Columbia Memorial Hospital, and the townhouses on Mount Ray. Scalera wanted BBL, the design-build firm that created the central firehouse and 325 Columbia Street, to construct a new police/court building on the corner of Fourth and Columbia streets, on property owned by Eric Galloway. The deal was that Galloway would give the City the land in exchange for 427 and 429 Warren Street--the buildings where city court and the police department are now located.

Around this same time, another idea was explored, which involved buying this former car dealership on Green Street for the police department and building a two-story addition behind it for the city court.

When the Tracy administration took control of City Hall in 2006, the plan to build a new building of questionable architectural merit was abandoned. The new idea was to move the police, the court, as well as all the offices and functions of City Hall into the Terry-Gillette mansion at 601 Union Street. During the time it had been the Elks' Lodge, the building had been expanded significantly, and it was thought to be large enough to house all offices and departments of city government. Proposals were requested for a feasibility study, but when the price for such a study came in at about $50,000, the president of the Common Council at the time got cold feet about pursuing the idea. 

Attention then returned to Charles Williams School, which seemed to be the only solution the City could afford. A public meeting was held in the building to discuss the the idea of locating the police station in the neighborhood, and at that meeting, two families who lived on Robinson Street were so vocally and vehemently opposed to having the police station in their midst that the plan was abandoned--even though other neighborhood residents had privately expressed their support of the plan.

When Scalera returned to the mayor's office in 2008, another plan was born: the City would buy 25 Railroad Avenue, the building that had been built for and occupied by the Columbia County Department of Social Services but which DSS was looking to leave. But after years of exploring this alternative and that, spending $1.5 million for the old Ockawamick School in Claverack and spending thousands more for various studies and security deposits, the Board of Supervisors decided to buy the building they'd been leasing for twenty years after all.

Next came "Civic Hudson," the scheme to use public money earmarked for homeless housing to help build a new police and city court building for Hudson. In this plan, the City would lease two floors in a building built and owned by Galvan Partners or the Lantern Organization (it was never entirely clear which). The top two floors would be 35 units of "supportive housing" for formerly homeless single men and women. Chief Ellis Richardson and the HPD rank and file were not happy about the prospect of sharing a building with 35 low-income studio apartments, and the New York State Homeless Housing and Assistance Program (HHAP) indicated that they would not approve financing for the project in the face of opposition from the police department. Nothing has been heard recently about Civic Hudson or its complementary proposal Galvan Quarters.

A possibility often mentioned for relocating the police department, the court, and all the offices and functions of City Hall is John L. Edwards Primary School. The HCSD Board of Education perennially talks about changing the way it groups the grade levels to eliminate this building, which is currently used for the primary grades, K-2. However, HCSD has indicated that it wants untold millions of dollars for the building, which puts it out of reach for the City of Hudson.

Gossips looks forward to the time when it can be revealed what building is currently being considered as a headquarters for the HPD and the city court.      

Election Day, November 6

Election Day is less than two weeks away. For voters who will be away from Hudson on that Tuesday, the Board of Elections is offering four opportunities--beyond their regular weekday hours--to vote over the counter prior to November 6:

• Wednesday, October 24, from 4 to 7 p.m.
• Thursday, October 25, from 4 to 7 p.m.
• Saturday, October 27, from 9 a.m. to noon
• Tuesday, October 30, from 4 to 7 p.m.
• Thursday, November 1, from 4 to 7 p.m.
• Saturday, November 3, from 9 a.m. to noon

Click here for more information about absentee voting.

Hudson in 1905: Part 58

The following is an excerpt from the booklet Illustrated Hudson, N.Y., published in 1905.

THE GREAT ATLANTIC AND PACIFIC TEA COMPANY--603 Warren street. In the general history of business successes of this country there is no line of retail stores that have attained a greater degree of fame in the years in which it has been in operation than that of the GREAT ATLANTIC AND PACIFIC TEA COMPANY, with its 265 stores scattered throughout the length and breath of the land. The teas, coffees, spices, groceries and other specialties are of the purest and best, and owing to the company's facilities for purchasing in large quantities and their being manufacturers and growers of many of the products which they handle, they are thereby able to sell at the lowest margin of profit.

The Hudson branch of this firm has been established here for twenty-five years, and is one of the finest houses of the many which this firm owns. The store is centrally located, and the stock is attractively displayed at all times. Eight clerks are constantly employed, while three wagons deliver and travel the immediate territory. The business at this location is under the able management of Mr. J. H. Buck, and under his executive ability the trade of the house has greatly increased.

603 Warren Street today--part of Regan & Smith Antiques

Gossips Note: The building that now stands at 601-603 is not the building that was there in 1905, when the A&P was located at 603 Warren Street. The current building was built as an S. S. Kresge five-and-dime store sometime after 1922. In the first picture below, the bank building, now Bank of America, can be seen but not the Kresge building. The bank was built in 1922. The Kresge building appears in the second picture, which was taken possibly in the early 1930s.

Hudson Chautauqua

A few weeks ago, the Stoddard Corner Bookshop, specializing in manuscript Americana, upstate New York history, and nonfiction books, opened for business at 757 Columbia Street.  Adjoining the shop in the building at Columbia and Eighth streets, sometimes known as Hudson's flatiron building, is a lecture hall and exhibition space that has been dubbed the Hudson Chautauqua, after the celebrated Chautauqua Institute. The inaugural event for the Hudson Chautauqua will take place on Saturday, November 17, at 3 p.m., when material culture authority, author, and teacher Walter G. Ritchie, Jr., will present a lecture entitled "Revealing Identities: Ammi Phillips' Portraits of Ashbel Stoddard and Patience Bolles Stoddard of Hudson, New York, c. 1812-1813." The inaugural event at the Hudson Chautauqua coincides with the appearance of Ritchie's essay on the subject in The Hudson River Valley Review, published by The Hudson River Valley Institute at Marist College.

Hudson in 1905: Part 57

The following is an excerpt from the booklet Illustrated Hudson, N.Y., published in 1905.

MILLER BROS.--Barber Shop. 508 Warren street. To the many men who patronize a barber in Hudson there is no establishment that receives a greater percentage of trade than that of Miller Bros. The proprietors are Messrs. Ed. L. and W. A. Miller, two of the best known tonsorial artists of the city and men who are familiar with every branch of the business. Three chairs are constantly engaged, and every improvement known to the business is to be had here. No effort is spared to make this establishment a popular one, and its able proprietors are men who have a host of friends in the city.

508 Warren Street today--Element

No Sign of Improvement

Buffalo Business First has a report on school districts in the Albany area, ranking them from 1 to 84. The school district at the top of the list--No. 1--is Niskayuna; the one at the bottom of the list--No. 84--is Albany. No. 82 is the Hudson City School District.

C. H. Evans Hook & Ladder Co.

The history of the C. H. Evans Brewery published yesterday didn't mention that Hudson's third fire company, founded in 1799, was renamed C. H. Evans Hook & Ladder Co. in 1868 to honor Cornelius H. Evans. This picture shows the firehouse, designed by Michael O'Connor and built in 1889, where C. H. Evans Hook & Ladder Co. was headquartered for more than a hundred years. 

The firehouse is now Spotty Dog Books & Ale. The fire company is now the focus of an investigation into the apparent theft of thousands of dollars from the fire company's funds. Tom Casey has an update on that story in today's Register-Star: "Another suspension in C. H. Evans probe."

A History of the C. H. Evans Brewery

The following history of the C. H. Evans Brewery, one of Hudson's foremost businesses in 19th and early 20th centuries, was researched and written by Walter G. Ritchie, Jr., the creator of the blog An Intimate Portrait of Home, who has graciously permitted its publication on The Gossips of Rivertown.

C. H. Evans & Sons Brewery, 1900-1910. Historic Hudson. Rowles Studio Collection.

Shortly after its founding in 1783, the embryonic city of Hudson witnessed the emergence of a number of industries, including shipping, ship building, sail making, rope making, whale and seal fishing, candle making and leather tanning. From an early date, brewing and distilling were also conducted successfully. The first distillery was built in 1785 and two or three others appeared shortly thereafter. [1] In 1786, the Englishman Benjamin Faulkins established Hudson’s earliest brewery, which was followed by the brewing plants of David Coope and Mr. Auchmoody. [2]

George Robinson, the successor to Faulkins, built in 1836 a new brewery and two malt houses, which were purchased in 1856 by Robert W. Evans (1818-1868) and his partner, James L. Phipps. [3] Born in Livingston, Columbia County, Evans removed to Hudson and was engaged in the dry goods business for eighteen years before acquiring Robinson’s brewing plant. [4]

The brewery and malt house, located near the North Bay, occupied approximately three acres of land along Mill Street. A second malt house stood in the northwest corner at the intersection of State and North Second Streets. In addition, Evans and Phipps owned a five-story warehouse at 127 Hudson Street in New York City. [5]

Advertisement for R. H. Evans & Co., Hudson, New York. Hudson City Directory, 1862. 

1873 Atlas Map. The Phipps & Evans Brewery appears in the upper right.

Robert married Harriet E. Wescott and the couple had three children. Cornelius H. Evans (1841-1902), Robert’s only son, became a clerk in the office of the brewery at age nineteen and was made a partner in 1865. [6] 

In 1868, Charles purchased his father’s interest in the brewery and continued the partnership with James L. Phipps under the name Phipps & Evans. After the death of Phipps in 1873, Cornelius took on as partners James H. Gaul and J. H. Phipps, son of his late partner, and the company operated under the name C. H. Evans & Co. In 1878, Cornelius purchased his partners’ interests and became sole owner of the brewery.

C. H. Evans & Co., Hudson, New York. Illustration from The Daily Graphic: New York, December 2, 1887.  

Under Cornelius’s direction, the Evans brewery achieved tremendous success. By 1886, the company produced 550 barrels of ale per day. The firm had agents in Fishkill, Newburg, Kingston, Poughkeepsie, Peekskill and New York City. Evans ale was sold at bars and taverns in Hudson and in other parts of the state, as well as at hotels including the Flammery Hotel at Fishkill Landing and the Vanderbilt House on Forty-Second Street and Lexington Avenue in New York City. The specialty of the Evans brewery was “Indian Pale Ale,” noted for its light color and full-bodied flavor.

In 1864, Cornelius married Imogene Groat of Hudson. He and his wife had two sons, Robert W. Evans (b. 1865) and Cornelius H. Evans, Jr. (1866-1941). [7] Both sons became clerks in their father’s firm in the mid-1880s and were made partners in 1888. Ownership of the company passed to Robert and Cornelius, Jr., after their father’s death in 1902. The brothers continued to operate the brewery successfully until the 1920s, when they were forced to close it due to prohibition.

Standing on the north side of Warren Street between Fourth and Fifth Streets is the imposing two-and-one-half story brick Second Empire-style mansion built in 1870 by Cornelius H. Evans. [8] Evans erected his grand house shortly after acquiring his father’s interest in the brewing plant, which quickly became a thriving and prominent company in Hudson, reputedly producing the finest ales in the northeastern United States.

C. H. Evans Mansion today

_____________________________

[1] Captain Franklin Ellis, History of Columbia County, New York, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers (Philadelphia, 1878), p. 159.

[2] Stephen B. Miller, Historical Sketches of Hudson (Hudson, New York, 1862), p. 31. See also Ellis, History of Columbia County, New York, p. 159. 

[3] The history of the Evans brewery is discussed in an article on the city of Hudson published in the December 2, 1887, issue of The Daily Graphic: New York, p. 225. Ellis states that the brewery acquired by Robert W. Evans was started by George Robinson about 1820-1822. See Ellis, History of Columbia County, New York, p. 168. 

[4] Henry P. Smith, Columbia County at the End of the Century (Hudson, New York, 1900), vol. II, p. 71.

[5] Ellis, History of Columbia County, New York, p. 168.

[6] Smith, Columbia County at the End of the Century, p. 72.

[7] Smith, Columbia County at the End of the Century, p. 72.

[8] According to Ellis, Evans built his residence on Warren Street in 1870.  See Ellis, History of Columbia County, New York, p. 215.

Hudson in 1905: Part 56

The following is an excerpt from the booklet Illustrated Hudson, N.Y., published in 1905.

MERCHANT TAILORING ESTABLISHMENT--Solomon Bros., proprietors. No. 339 Warren street. This house is one of the oldest established businesses in Hudson, and certainly the oldest among Merchant Tailors. It has been established for thirty-four years, and throughout that whole period has always been known as a conservative and reliable house. For twenty-seven years the firm was managed by the two brothers, Joseph and Julius, but since the death of the former seven years ago the affairs of the house have been looked after by Mr. Julius Solomon. This gentleman is a practical tailor of long experience. Besides clothing, a large line of hats, trunks and gents' furnishing goods is carried, and is well displayed. Every effort is made to treat customers fairly, and this characteristic has brought about a large and desirable class of patronage.

339 Warren Street today--Character Unlimited

Hudson in 1905: Bonus

Gossips' "Hudson in 1905" series inspired Rudy Huston at White Rice to send this photograph of an item he found at a garage sale in the Berkshires.

The image is printed on card stock and may be a store placard or possibly part of a hatbox. It bears the business name C. V. S. Harder's and the address 531 Warren Street in Hudson, New York--now the location of White Rice. 

C. V. S. Harder's is not one of the businesses included in Illustrated Hudson, N.Y., but it did exist in 1905. The Hudson directory for 1905 lists "Chas. V. S. Harder (successors to Bachman & Lasher) hats, caps, gents' furnishing" at 531 Warren Street. Checking back through earlier directories discovered that Charles Harder became the proprietor of the business in 1900.