Discover 11 hidden attractions, cool sights, and unusual things to do in Hudson (United States). Don't miss out on these must-see attractions: Seasons on St. Croix Gallery, The Phipps Center for the Arts, and Herman L. Humphrey House. Also, be sure to include St. Croix County Courthouse in your itinerary.
Below, you can find the list of the most amazing places you should visit in Hudson (Wisconsin).
Table of Contents
Seasons on St. Croix Gallery
Art gallery, Gift shop, Shopping, Museum
Address: 401 2nd St, 54016-2510 Hudson
The Phipps Center for the Arts
Theatre in Hudson, Wisconsin. The Phipps Center for the Arts is a theatre and arts center in Hudson, Wisconsin, offering a variety of theatrical, musical, and artistic performances, in addition to art exhibits and arts-related classes and lessons. The facility is a non-profit, community-based organization committed to offering cultural and artistic experiences to area residents.
Built in 1983 and expanded in 1992, the Phipps is operated mainly through the help of volunteers. It operates with a $1.2 million annual budget, in a $7 million facility. Its Endowment Fund is over $1 million.
In addition to art exhibit and classroom areas, there are multiple auditoriums. A main feature in the theatre is a Wurlitzer Theatre Organ, used for concerts, and to accompany silent films. This organ was originally installed in the Capitol Theatre in St. Paul in 1926. It was reinstalled in the KSTP Television Studios in Saint Paul in 1957 and then moved to the Phipps Center in 1983. The organ has three manuals, and 16 ranks (sets of pipes).[1]
Address: Hudson, 109 Locust Street
Herman L. Humphrey House
The Herman L. Humphrey House is located in Hudson, Wisconsin, United States. It was the home of U.S. Representative Herman L. Humphrey. The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.
It is a two-story brick Italianate-style house on a stone foundation.[2]
St. Croix County Courthouse
The St Croix County Courthouse, located in Hudson, Wisconsin, was built in 1900. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.
It is Richardsonian Romanesque in style. It was deemed "One of the finest of the state's courthouses designed in the Richardsonian manner" and described as "a symmetrical assemblage of Romanesque elements."[3]
Hudson Public Library
The Hudson Public Library is located in Hudson, Wisconsin.[4]
Address: 304 Locust St, Hudson
Frederick L. Darling House
Building in Hudson. The Frederick L. Darling House is a historic house located at 617 Third Street in Hudson, Wisconsin.
The two-story, Greek Revival style house was built in 1857 by Amasa and Ammah Andrews. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on October 4, 1984.
It is a two-story L-shaped building on a stone foundation. It has a pedimented gable portico supported by four octagonal columns on its east side.
It has also been known as Darling-O'Brien House.[5]
Lewis-Williams House
The Lewis-Williams House is a historic house located in Hudson, Wisconsin. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.
It is a one-and-a-half-story "romantic" Gothic Revival cottage overlooking the St. Croix River. It has multiple steep gables "ornamented with finials and heavy elaborate wooden bargeboard with pendants."
It was bought by Dr. Boyd T. Williams in 1930 and used as a cancer treatment facility. Williams died in 1948; the house remains as a "historic representative of the locality's development of health services and the last surviving symbol of Dr. Boyd T. Williams' medical contributions."[6]
John S. Moffat House
Museum in Hudson, Wisconsin. The Octagon House House Museum, also known as the John Moffat House, is a stucco octagonal house in Hudson, in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The home was built in 1855 by John Moffatt and his wife, Nancy Bennet, who had moved to Hudson from Ithaca, New York the previous year with their ten-year-old daughter. Typical for the time, the Moffats traveled by train to Galena, Illinois where they took a steamboat to Prescott, Wisconsin. Then they traveled by horse and wagon, north to Hudson, which was a prosperous frontier town on the Saint Croix River, benefiting from lumber and flour mills. Two of Nancy's sisters already lived in the community when they arrived. Moffat initially was clerk of the United States Land Office for the Chippewa District and later practiced law before being elected a Saint Croix County judge in 1869. Their home is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The house is now owned and operated by the St. Croix County Historical Society as the Octagon House Museum, a historic house museum furnished in mid-19th-century style. The society purchased the home in 1964.[7]
Samuel T. Merritt House
The Samuel T. Merritt House is located in Hudson, Wisconsin, United States. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.
It is a two-story Italianate house upon a stone foundation which was bought by Samuel T. Merritt in 1862. Merritt was a teacher, who moved from New York State to here.
Merritt became wealthy through business ventures including by being "the first to ship wheat down the (St. Croix) river to La Crosse,...by barge, with a boat 'Viola', which was built in Hudson". Merritt was "A devout Baptist and Republican,....recognized as a highly prominent and influential citizen, revered as 'starting out in life poor in pocket, but rich in the possession of health, courage, and ability. His success has not come...by any royal road, but through careful plodding work, good investments, and excellent management, while the...esteem in which he has held has been honestly won by honorable methods and a pleasing personality.'"
After he purchased the house in 1862, he lived in it from 1867 to his death in 1918.[8]
William Dwelley House
The William Dwelley House is a historic house located in Hudson, Wisconsin. It is locally significant due to its association with William Dwelley and also its incorporation of the Italianate style of architecture.
It is a two-story house on a stone foundation.
It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.[9]
William H. Phipps House
The William H. Phipps House is a historic house located in Hudson, Wisconsin. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on June 18, 1987.
Its NRHP nomination states:
The William H. Phipps house epitomizes fanciful Queen Anne architecture with its octagonal tower, multiple verandahs and balconies and exterior facade ornamentation using octagonal shingles and various applied wood detail. The interior complements the architectural quality using hardwoods, often carved in the minutest detail. The elegant Queen Anne style home built in 1884, is one of the showplaces in Hudson and continues to be one of the finest examples of the style of architecture to be found in the St. Croix Valley.
In 2018 it serves as Phipps Inn Bed & Breakfast.[10]