Business & brands
J. L. Hudson
1846–1912 · merchant, founder of the J. L. Hudson department store
English-born merchant who founded Hudson's, Detroit's legendary Woodward Avenue department store, and bankrolled the Hudson Motor Car Company.
- Born
Newcastle upon Tyne, England- Died
Worthing, England
aged 65- Birth name
- Joseph Lowthian Hudson
- Also known as
- Joseph L. Hudson
- Detroit years
- 1870s–1912
- Field
- Business & brands
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Hudson was born in Newcastle upon Tyne, grew up partly in Canada and was living in Michigan by his teens. After years in the clothing trade with relatives and partners, he opened his own men's and boys' clothing shop in 1881 inside the Detroit Opera House on Campus Martius. The business grew into Hudson's, which moved to Woodward Avenue and Gratiot in 1891 and expanded over decades into a 25-story flagship at 1206 Woodward, once the tallest department store in the world. Hudson also invested in banks, utilities and industry, and in 1909 supplied seed money for the car company that Roy Chapin named after him. He was active in civic causes and never married. He died in 1912 on a business trip to Europe and was buried at Woodlawn Cemetery after a funeral at Central Methodist Church. His nephews ran the store for decades; the flagship closed in 1983 and was imploded in 1998.
Highlights
- Opened his first Detroit store in the Detroit Opera House in 1881
- Hudson's flagship at 1206 Woodward grew to 25 stories
- Seed investor in the Hudson Motor Car Company (1909)
- Flagship closed in 1983 and was imploded on October 24, 1998
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 3
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Founded · 1891–1912
J. L. Hudson Department Store (site of Hudson's Detroit)
Demolished · 1891–1983
Hudson's flagship, built up from 1911 to 1946; closed in 1983 and imploded in 1998. Bedrock's Hudson's Detroit now stands on the site.
Founded · 1881–1891
Detroit Opera House
Demolished
Hudson opened his first store inside the old opera house on Campus Martius in 1881 (not today's Detroit Opera House on Broadway).
Buried here · 1912
Woodlawn Cemetery
His body was brought back from Europe and buried here in July 1912.