Street names honor memorable Hudson citizens and families

• Eugene Beaudry

Eugene Beaudry lived at 1016 10th St. for nearly his entire life. He was born there in 1913, and died in the same bedroom in 1985. Submitted photo
• Joe Beaudry displays the Carnegie Medal that his father Eugene received

Joe Beaudry displays the Carnegie Medal that his father, the late Eugene Beaudry, received after saving the life of a young woman who fell through the ice while skating on Lake Mallalieu. At right is framed St. Paul newspaper story about the Dec. 2, 1932, accident. It includes a photo of Eugene Beaudry, left, with the woman he saved, Mary Wilcox. Also pictured is Clarence Naegele of Stillwater, who was skating with Wilcox and drowned after plunging into the water. Photo by Randy Hanson

Talk about it

Many of Hudson’s street names honor real people and their stories.

Beaudry Boulevard is one of those.

The one-third mile long street running from Heggen Street to Industrial Street in the city’s first business park south of Interstate 94 is named after Eugene A. Beaudry, a lifelong Hudson resident.

Joe Beaudry, a 31-year veteran of the city’s wastewater utility, is Eugene’s son. His sister Julie Bonngard also remains a Hudson-area resident.

The Beaudry family has been in Hudson since 1894 when Eugene’s father, Ben Beaudry, came here from Nova Scotia, Canada, and found work in a local lumber mill. In Hudson, the young man of French descent met a German immigrant girl, Othella Friend, and they married in 1904.

The house at 1016 10th St. was their son Eugene Beaudry’s home for almost his entire life. The bedroom in which Eugene was born is where he died of a heart attack in 1985 at the age of 71.

Eugene’s first job was at the Omaha railroad car shops in North Hudson. He spent the rest of his working years with the Great Northern and the Burlington Northern railroads.

While the Beaudrys have a long history in Hudson, it was an act of heroism by Eugene when he was 19 years old that led to the naming of Beaudry Boulevard, according to his son, Joe.

On the night of Dec. 3, 1932, Eugene was skating on Lake Mallalieu with friends when they heard screams from a young woman, 20-year-old Mary Wilcox, who had fallen through the ice with her boyfriend, 21-year-old Clarence Naegele of Stillwater.

Eugene didn’t know how to swim, but he skated to the center of the lake where Wilcox was clinging to the edge of the ice. He crawled to within three feet of Wilcox and extended one of his legs for her to grab onto. On the second attempt, after Wilcox was twice momentarily submerged in the water, Eugene was able to pull her onto solid ice.

Sadly, Naegele drowned after pushing Wilcox onto the edge of the ice, according to an account in a St. Paul newspaper.

Two years later, Eugene Beaudry was awarded a Carnegie Medal for his act of heroism.

The Carnegie Hero Fund Commission, established by industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, remains in existence, honoring Americans and Canadians for acts of heroism each year. Forty-four medals have been awarded this year.

Eugene Beaudry was remembered again when the city needed a name for a new street in the St. Croix Ventures Business Park.

Jack Breault Drive

Jack Breault Drive is the name of one of Hudson’s newest streets. It’s a short street off Old Hwy. 35, providing access to the building lots in the city’s new St. Croix Business Park East development, located on the east side of Hwy. 35 between Tower Road and Hanley Road.

Breault was the mayor of Hudson for 14 years, from 1994 to 2008. Until recently, he also served on the board that developed and oversees St. Croix Business Park.

In addition, the lifelong Hudsonite was a city alderperson for 11 years, a member of the Hudson Board of Education for four years, and a county board supervisor for two years.

There’s been no publicity about the naming of the new business park street and, according to Community Development Director Dennis Darnold, that’s how the former mayor wanted it.

Darnold said Breault was reluctant about having the street named after him, but the St. Croix Business Park Corp. went ahead with it anyway.

In recent years, land developers have named the streets in their developments. The City Council approves the names when the plat maps for the developments are approved.

Honored citizens

Hudson Star-Observer customer service employee Maggie Hall has researched the names of a number of Hudson-area streets and roads for presentations she has given to students in Deanne Swanson’s fourth-grade class at E.P. Rock Elementary School.

The fourth-graders study Hudson history as a part of a larger unit on Wisconsin history.

The school itself is named after a legendary Hudson educator, Edward Peter Rock. Rock came to Hudson in 1919 as a teacher and coach, and went on to serve as the high school principal and district superintendent.

Following his retirement from education in 1964, he served on the county board and as chairman of the board that established Hudson’s first industrial park south of I-94.

Rock Street in St. Croix Business Park is named in his honor.

Willis Miller Drive in St. Croix Business Park is named for the longtime editor and publisher of the Star-Observer, who died in 2008. Miller, another lifelong Hudsonite, was with the newspaper for 68 years.

Hanley Road is named for John J. Hanley (1901-1973), a St. Croix County sheriff’s deputy and then Hudson postmaster for 25 years.

Carmichael Road honors the memory of Brig. Gen. Edward Carmichael, a Hudson native and World War II veteran who rose from the rank of private in the U.S. Army to serve as commander of the 84th Infantry Division.

After retiring from the Army, Carmichael was a manager for Brown & Bigelow Co. in St. Paul.

His family’s 80-acre farm was located on the road that now bears his name. All that’s left of it is the white barn across from the Hudson Golf Club.

Frear Street honors James Archibald Frear (1861-1939), who served in the U.S. House of Representatives as a Republican from 1913 to 1935. Frear was born and raised in Hudson and practiced law here before setting out on a career in politics. Before entering Congress, he served as Hudson city attorney (1894-95), St. Croix County district attorney (1896-1901), state assemblyman (1903-5), state senator (1905-7) and Wisconsin secretary of state (1907-13).

Frear practiced law in Washington, D.C., after leaving Congress and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Gray Street is named after Almon D. Gray (1830-1912), who was elected Hudson’s first mayor in 1857.

Ward Avenue was named in remembrance of Charles Allen Ward (1886-1959), the larger than life Hudson businessman who rose from poverty to become president of the Brown & Bigelow printing company.

Livingstone Road honors the memory of Dr. J.W. Livingstone (1881-1956), a beloved Hudson physician for 50 years.

Other Hudson-area streets and roads bearing the names of former residents include Aldrich Avenue (Dr. Philip Aldrich, 1792-1858), Aldro Lane (Aldro Larsen, 1901-1982), Larsen Lane (see Aldro Lane), Beal Street (John S. Beal, 1835-1913), Bieneman Street (Albrecht Bieneman, 1906-1975), Crosby Drive (Henry and Hannah Crosby, the first white people married in St. Croix County), Enloe Street (the Enloe family), Gilbert Road (Harry E. Gilbert, 1878-1942), Gherty Lane (Lawrence Gherty), Heggen Street (H.J. Heggen), Hosford Street (George Hosford), Hoyt Street (Dr. Otis Hoyt), Kelly Road (the Kelly family), Kinney Road (the Kinney family), Loughney Bay (the Loughney family), Mayer Road (Edwin Mayer), Nye Street (famous writer William Nye), O’Keefe Road (County Highway Commissioner Thomas O’Keefe), O’Neil Road (the O’Neil family), Swasey Street (Philip Swasey, 1892-1978), and Webster Street (newspaper owner W.E. Webster).

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