Thomas Hudson House

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The Thomas Hudson House was constructed ca. 1790. It is located north east of the small community of Hudsons Crossroads.

This house is one of the best surviving examples of Germanic stone construction in Shenandoah County. It was built atop a spring to provide access to running water and a cool place to store food. The structure is almost completely unchanged from the time of original construction meaning it has exceptional architectural integrity. It features two interior end chimneys and a two room plan on each floor. The second floor retains its original partition and remains of the spring room can be seen in the basement. While it is clear the home once contained a porch structure on the front elevation, it does not survive and its original design is unclear.

In 1937 the Virginia WPA Historical Inventory Project noted the structure was designed to resist attacks by Native Americans and may have replaced an earlier “Indian Fort” on the property. They also wrote that “it was from this house that the last Indian was seen, who ever came to this county. He was shot by one of the men and buried at the foot of Deerhead.” No other evidence exists to substantiate these assertions.

What we do know is house was most likely constructed by Henry Baughman sometime around 1790. He purchased the property from his father Jacob in 1801. The deed recording the sale noted he was already living on the property. The land was part of a 1754 grant given to John Henry Neff for over 350 acres in the area. Jacob was married to Neff’s daughter and had inherited the land in 1784.

Thomas Hudson purchased the property and house in 1857. The small community of Hudsons Crossroads, 1/4th of a mile southwest of the home, now bears his name. Hudson’s heirs owned the home until 1946 when it is sold to the Wilkins family. Their descendants still own and farm the land.