shared among the participants. An executive committee selected the land, supervised the laying out of the town, and presided the drawing of lots to select the division of the property. Original town design The 1836 plan of the town of Hudson was interesting in several respects. First, most central Illinois towns of the 1830s were laid around a central Public Square; but Hudson had none. Second, the town of Hudson had both "in lots" - and "out lots." The "in lots," formed the core of Hudson and were standard blocks of lots like any other town. These were surrounded by a ring of "out lots," which were slightly larger, but still part of the original town plan. At Hudson the "out lots" differ in size. The tradition of in and out lots goes back for centuries in New England, where farmers were reluctant to consign their livestock to locations far removed from the town center. These 'out lots" should not be confused with the far larger tracts of farming land that were also assigned to each settler. It is unclear why this out-of-date design should have been adopted at Hudson. The original town contained 30 blocks of "in lots" each of which contained eight lots; because each participant received several lots Hudson, even today, the houses in the older part of town are often much more widely spaced than in other towns founded at the same date. Broadway was designed as the main street of Hudson, and because of this was wide, while other streets were only wide. Eventually the "In lots" and the "out lots" came to be used in much the same way, as residential building sites. Development Immediately after its founding Hudson fell on hard times. In 1837 the land market turned sour, settlement slowed, and Illinois sank into a deep depression. The organizers of the colony found that they were unable to purchase the intended of timber for each settler; earlier settlers had already purchased most of the available woodland. A few families received up to , but most were only given only ; too little to supply their needs. Disputes arose concerning the division of profits from land sales. The number of settlers was fewer than expected. Only about twenty families moved onto the colony's land. They did manage to build a number of substantial frame houses. There was a nearby school and two churches,