Hudson is a small, well-preserved town on the Western Reserve, halfway between Akron and Cleveland. The Hudson Historic District — a classic New England-style commons surrounded by Federal and Greek Revival buildings — anchors a compact downtown of 19th-century brick, independent shops, and restaurants. It was founded in 1799 by David Hudson, a Connecticut settler, and the New England character has stuck with unusual fidelity.
The town's chief claim to fame is as the home of Western Reserve Academy, a boarding school that grew from Western Reserve College, founded in 1826. On the same campus sits the Loomis Observatory, the second oldest observatory still standing on its original site in the United States, built to track Halley's Comet. John Brown lived here before his fateful raid on Harpers Ferry, and the Hudson Library and Historical Society holds a solid collection on the town's abolitionist connections and Underground Railroad history.
Hudson is a pleasant half-day stop if you are driving between Cleveland and Akron, with a genuinely walkable centre and a handful of good restaurants around the green. It does not ask for more of your time than it deserves, but the time you give it is well spent.