Images
Our Image Collections
The following collections consist of images of the Hudson area throughout history from various time periods, photographic studios, projects, and amateur photographers. On this website we have included a few representative images from each collection; many more are available for viewing in our History Room.
Ciancetta-Rowles Photo Collection
Carmine Ciancetta, last owner of Rowles Studio, 441 Warren Street, Hudson, donated a collection of 80 photos of the Hudson area. Rowles Studio was in operation from 1916, when the business was purchased from V. Whitbeck Studios, until 1982 by Samuel G. Rowles. This collection includes photographs of Hudson's streets, buildings, events, boats, and people, ca. 1870-1982 and photographs of several Columbia County courthouses, ca. 1890-1910. Prints and digital files of this collection are available for viewing in the History Room.
City of Hudson Postcard Collection
This collection, which dates from the early 1900s, includes hundreds of postcards collected by various donors. The postcards provide important visual information about the City of Hudson including images of architecture, various types of buildings, and a wide range of illustrations (drawings and photographic images) on subjects as varied as urbanization, transportation, industrialization, education, health structure, events, and environment. The full collection is available to view in the History Room. Much of the collection is available digitally on nyheritage.org.
BLACC Photo Collection
These images are associated with the Black Legacy Association of Columbia County (BLACC) Collection and may have been maintained for the preparation of the interviews conducted from 1987 to 1989. The files include legal agreements, letters, newspaper clippings, magazine articles, book chapters, organization publications, and photographs. They also represent, in some cases, photographs and other memorabilia donated to the project by the interviewees.
Materials were donated by Columbia Opportunities, Inc. to the library in 2018. All of the material in this collection was assembled by the Columbia County Retired & Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP), sponsored by Columbia Opportunities, Incorporated (COI). In 2019, the library was awarded an Accelerating Promising Practices for Small Libraries grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services for a collaborative project with Oral History Summer School (OHSS) to create interplay between this collection, the library’s oral history collection, and the 500+ life histories in the OHSS collection.
Cipkowski Family Photo Collection
The collection consists of physical and digitized photographs of the Cipkowski family and the digitized home movies from the early to mid 1900s. Much of the images and movies are from Hudson, especially the Front Street area that was demolished and re-developed during urban renewal. The collection was generously donated by Peter Cipkowski in 2019 and is available in the History Room.
New York National Guard Drum Corps Parade
This is a black and white photograph (6.5" x 42") taken on the corner of Warren Street, Park Place and Seventh Street, on the day of the Hudson-Fulton Parade 1909, of Company F 10th Regiment New York National Guard Drum Corps (center), the Hudson Band (far left), and police and firemen (far right). The photograph is available for viewing in the History Room and a digital copy may be ordered by contacting historyroom@hudsonarealibrary.org.
Oakdale Photo Collection
This collection is from a variety of sources, most prominently a donation of an album from the City of Hudson Youth Dept. It represents photographs of activities at Oakdale Lake from the late 1800s to the mid-late 1900s. Images includes the earliest known photographs of Oakdale Lake by Rowles Studio from Arthur Koweek's collection and loaned by his family, which have been digitally reproduced and enhanced by Katrina Stair in 2018, and the photos of Howard Gibson from the 1950s-1970s. The collection is available in the History Room.
Neefus Photographers Collection
Wendy and Jinny Neefus Photographers, located at 743 Warren Street in Hudson, closed in 2013 after over 60 years in business. Many people remember the studio as the place to go for graduation portraits and other life event photo sessions but the family also photographed buildings and life in and around Hudson during the three generations they were in business. Many of these negatives were generously donated to the library’s History Room by Wendover (Wendy) Neefus, III and have been digitized and are available for viewing.
Paul Abitabile's Bed Races, 1984 Collection
Paul Abitabile, local photographer and library supporter, has gifted the rights to his digital copies of the 1984 Hudson Bed Races, a famous (infamous) local tradition, to our History Room. The bed races were held in Hudson for a few years in the 1980s, revived in 2002 and again in 2016 and 2017. Carole Osterink of Gossips of Rivertown has a few blog posts that cover the history of the Hudson races, as well as the history of bed races in general, quite thoroughly at this link: https://gossipsofrivertown.blogspot.com/search?q=bed+races.
You can view all the photos of Hudson's Bed Races, 1984 or any other part of our collection by emailing historyroom@hudsonarealibrary.org to make an appointment.
Arthur Koweek's Urban Renewal Papers
This collection, donated by Richard and Joan Koweek in 2021, represents the work of Arthur Koweek who chaired the Hudson City Planning Commission during the urban renewal project of 1971-1973. Urban renewal transformed neighborhoods in Hudson from west of Front Street, north of Warren Street and west of Second Street to the Hudson River. This collection also includes maps, books, and papers reflecting Hudson's urban renewal process. It is available for viewing in the History Room.
Ukrainian American Community Digital Photo Collection
This is an open collection being gathered since the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, mostly from descendants of the original community, in support of the people of Ukraine in their struggle to maintain their sovereignty and freedom. If you have any photos, documents, or memorabilia that you want to add to this collection feel free to email us: history@hudsonarealibrary.org.
The Saint Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Church Hudson, NY: Parish History Commemorative states: “Eager, anxious, and full of faith, millions of Eastern and Southern European immigrants put their trust in God and left their ancestral homelands in search of a better life in America. Nearly two thousand of them settled in Columbia County…Of these, Ukrainians comprised the second largest group, surpassed in number only by Polish immigrants. The first official documentation of Ukrainians settling in the city of Hudson can be traced back to 1910.”
The Hudson Area Library History Room celebrates the various ethnicities and communities that make up Hudson, Greenport, and Stockport (our library service areas) through their rich history.
Images donated by June Buniak, Kelley Drahushuk, Christine Hannett Garner, Linda LeSawyer Desharm, L. Edward Moore, Nancy Drahushuk Randall, and Charlene Scheu.
SPOUT logo designed by Richard Kraham.
SPOUT Scrapbook Collection: Support Promoting Our Unique Town
Throughout Hudson's history, Warren Street has represented the city's economic prosperity and its downturns. Many times, civic leaders worked to maintain the city's economic success through support of this business district. In the 1970s, in the final iteration of Hudson's urban renewal, a group of these leaders began an organization called Society to Promote Our Unique Town (SPOUT) which would sponsor activities to bring interest to Hudson's "downtown." Arthur Koweek, a leader of urban renewal in Hudson, kept a scrapbook with over 1,000 items: documents, news clippings, photos, pamphlets, flyers, and more that detail this organization's campaign. The SPOUT scrapbook, a part of the Hudson Area Library's newly archived Arthur Koweek's Urban Renewal collection, has been digitized.
This SPOUT scrapbook was digitized through Consider the Source NY, an Institute of Museum & Library Services grant under the auspices of NYS Archives.
Miscellaneous Images
These images are from various sources that have donated the photographs to the library's History Room. They include images of Public Square during a WWII scrap metal drive. These images are available for viewing in the History Room.