Our Hudson, Florida
A little Gulf town with salt in its story.
Salty Cowhide is rooted in Hudson—where the canals run toward the Gulf, fishing is part of the family rhythm, and the sunset always knows how to put on a show.
Where it started
Before the beach roads, this was Hudson’s Landing.
Hudson’s first recorded settlers arrived around 1868, when the Hudson family came south from Alabama and made a home near the Gulf.
Fishing became a local industry by 1874. Mullet were split, salted, and packed into barrels so visitors could carry Hudson’s catch home before modern refrigeration. Ice and better transportation later changed the trade, while sponge fishing also had its season between the world wars.
It was practical, weathered work—the kind of history that still feels close when the boats come in.
Water in the backyard
The canals changed everything.
In 1956, Victor M. “Bud” Clark began digging canals for Hudson Beach Estates so the homesites could meet the water. In 1957, Herschel Hudson cut a wide canal from Hudson Marina toward Main Street for Riviera Estates.
Development spread into roughly 25 miles of canals—twice that in shoreline when both banks are counted—and a whole way of life followed: a boat behind the house, an evening run toward the Gulf, and salt on just about everything.
The water today
Still a fishing town at heart.
Boats still leave Hudson for grouper, snapper, and open-water species. Depending on the season, the weather, and the day’s catch, local seafood cases may hold mullet, shrimp, sheepshead, Spanish mackerel, grouper, snapper, and stone crab claws.
Hudson treasure
Stone crab season is its own kind of holiday.
Florida’s season runs October 15 through May 1. Only legal-size claws are harvested, and the crab is returned to the water.
“Floaters” are lighter claws from recently molted crabs. They have less meat for their size, but they are still sweet Florida stone crab. On a lucky local day they can turn up around $12 a pound, while a full jumbo order at one of Florida’s best-known stone crab restaurants is listed above $100.
“With the price of beef, you know what I am eating here in Hudson—whether I catch it or buy local.”— Jennie
When the day is done
Then the sky changes the subject.
Long after the boats are tied up, Hudson gives us one more reason to look west.
“You may catch me at Sam’s watching a sunset. It’s the place to be in Hudson to watch it.”— Jennie