city, seat (1786) of Columbia county, southeastern New York, U.S., on the east bank of the Hudson River, 34 miles (55 km) south of Albany. In 1662 a Dutch settler, Jan Frans van Hoesen, purchased the tract from the Mahican (Mohican) (Mohican) Indians; it was called Klauver Rachen (Clover Reach) and later Claverack Landing. Permanently settled by New Englanders in 1783, it was renamed at its incorporation (1785) for the explorer Henry Hudson (Hudson, Henry), who had supposedly landed there in 1609. It developed as a boatbuilding river port, became a port of entry (1790), and was a whaling centre until the early 19th century. Manufactures include plastic fasteners, vaporizers and heating pads, buttons, and loading-dock equipment. A museum of fire-fighting equipment is attached to the Volunteer Firemen's Home. Columbia-Greene Community College, part of the State University of New York (New York, State University of (SUNY)) system, was founded in 1966 in Hudson.

Olana, 5 miles (8 km) south, is the impressive Victorian mansion-estate of the Romantic landscape painter Frederic Edwin Church (Church, Frederic Edwin) (1826–1900). President Martin Van Buren (Van Buren, Martin)'s retirement mansion is a nearby national historic site. Rip Van Winkle Bridge, 3 miles (5 km) southwest, spans the river to Catskill. Pop. (1990) 8,034; (2000) 7,524.

county, northeastern New Jersey, U.S. It constitutes a low-lying coastal region bounded by the Hackensack and Passaic (Passaic River) rivers to the west, Newark Bay to the southwest, Kill Van Kull to the south, and Upper New York Bay and the Hudson River to the east. Although timberland is scarce, oak and hickory are the main forest species. The county includes the waters surrounding the Statue of Liberty (Liberty, Statue of) National Monument on Ellis (Ellis Island) and Liberty (Liberty Island) islands; Liberty Island belongs to the state of New York, while Ellis Island is administered jointly by New Jersey and New York.

Algonquian-speaking Delaware Indians inhabited the region when English explorer Henry Hudson (Hudson, Henry) visited in 1609. Known as the “Gateway to New York,” Hudson county, created in 1840 and named for the explorer, is linked to New York City by the Lincoln and Holland tunnels; these are managed by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, one of the nation's busiest transportation complexes. Jersey City, the county seat and the site of Liberty State Park, is the home of Jersey City State College (founded 1927; opened 1929) and Saint Peter's College (founded 1872). The Stevens Institute of Technology was established in the city of Hoboken in 1870. Other cities are Bayonne and Union City.

The economy is based on manufacturing (apparel and other textiles), transportation (trucking and warehousing), health services, and wholesale trade. Hudson has the smallest area of any county in the state and also is the most densely populated. Area 47 square miles (121 square km). Pop. (2000) 608,975; (2007 est.) 598,160.