History of Hudsonville
Hudsonville gets its name from the founder and one of the earliest
settlers named Homer E. Hudson.
Homer Hudson was born in 1827 in Cleveland Ohio and came to West
Michigan in 1848. He first
went to Grand Rapids before coming to Holland. Ten years latter
Homer purchased land from Lucius
and Luman Jenison, the sons of Lemuel Jenison the first settler
in Georgetown township. The land
Homer purchased from the Jenison twin brothers was developed
into a nursery and he raised fruit trees
there in Georgetown Township. On 20 February 1873, twenty acres
of the Hudson property was
platted, recorded and dedicated to the "Village of Hudsonville"
by him on the 3rd of April 1873.
The settlement had a post office as early as 1 May 1868 and was
called "South Georgetown" before
it came by the name of "Hudsonville". Homer Hudson was the first
Postmaster out of his home.
There were daily stage run between Forest Grove, Zutphen, Jamestown,
and Gitchel. The "Chicago &
West Michgian" Railroad was completed through Hudonville in 1872.
This brought more settlers including
the Dutch immigrants who reclaimed the surrounding 'waste land'
and 'swamps' and turned it into productive
farm land growing Celery, Onions, and other such crops which
gave it the name as "The Salad Bowl City".
A highway was built in 1923, called "Pike 51" now called "M21".
In 1927 the town of Hudsonville was
incorporated.