Isaac W. and Amanda Hudson came from Alabama and settled in this area, which became known as Hudson's Landing. The cemetery became necessary when their daughter, Ida Malissa, died in 1878 at the age of 16.
The early occupations of the residents of Hudson were lumbering, turpentine production, farming and shrimping. Tree-related industries declined after too much of the nearby forests were cut down, but the town made a comeback during the 1950s when real estate developers marketed this area for homes.
Abraham and Susanna Bellamy donated two acres of land, located about a mile and a half to the east, for use as a cemetery. On August 30, 1890, it was dedicated for that purpose and named after Mrs. Bellamy's parents, Joseph and Susanna Vereen. The oldest grave here is that of Stephen Paul Douglas, who died in 1889.
Adjacent to the cemetery was a Methodist church, built in 1891 from pine lumber harvested from this tract. The church burned down in 1920 along with much of the surrounding forest, and in 1979 the United Methodist Church Conference conveyed this property to the Vereen Cemetery Association.
In 1905, the Aripeka Saw Mills Corporation bought a tract of land here from the Sessions and Bullard Company. The five principal individual owners were Gordon Abbott, M.F. Amorous, P.S. Arkwright, H.M. Atkinson, and Charles F. Ayer. Since each of their last names began with "A", the town became known as Fivay.
The town grew around the mill, and the surrounding forests were turned into lumber for Northern and Southern markets. After the forests were used up, the mill was abandoned and the town died.
In 1926, while the cross-country road from Dade City was being completed, there was a large rock here. It was covered with yucca plant, commonly known as the Spanish Bayonet. The community which sprang up around it came to be known as Bayonet Point.
This home was built in 1878-80 for Isaac Washington Hudson, Sr. and his wife, Amanda Luverna Cobb Hudson. Originally, there were porches at both the first and second stories. The post office, which started in 1882, was also located in this house.
Isaac and Amanda are considered the founders of Hudson, and members of their family lived in this dwelling until 1968.
The Rawls family built this house in 1878, and two years later sold it to George W.C. Littell. The walls inside were made of pine, assembled in a tongue-and-groove manner, and the first kitchen was separated from the rest of the house.
While the Littells lived here, this house served as a meeting place for persons involved with freight commerce. Later residents included physician Dr. Posey and, much later, Lilly Deluca.
Beginning in the 1880s, sponge fisherman came here and built warehouses, fish houses and railroad tracks along the shores of the creek. Fish they caught were shipped by rail to Fivay and Sagano, and naval stores and lumber went to Hudson.
At the head of the springs was the Springs Hotel. It was popular with hunters and fishermen from the early 1900s until the 1940s. During the 1940s, the sponge industry was greatly hurt by a disease which affected the sponges, and many left the industry.
The hotel site was later developed as the Hudson Springs Trailer Park.
In 1882, a building was constructed by the Baptists of pitch pine at the corner of Hudson Ave. and Main St. It was moved in 1888 to this location to land donated by Abraham Melton Bellamy and his family. The structure served as a community church, and later had other uses, including a 1920s post office, a store, a school, and a 1930s residence.
The church was later rebuilt and now houses Igesia Fuente de Amor Church of God.
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Bibliography
The Early Settlers of Hudson, by Pauline Stevenson Ash and Brenda J. Knowles (1978)
Florida Cracker Days in West Pasco County 1830-1982, by Pauline Stevenson Ash (1984)
The Historic Places of Pasco County, by James J. Horgan, Alice F. Hall and Edward J. Herrman (Ralard Printers, Inc. 1992)
Wish You Were Here: A Grand Tour of Early Florida Via Old Post Cards, by Hampton Dunn (Byron Kennedy and Company 1981)
