1868 – The Pacific Coast Steamship Co. buys Watsonville Landing at the top of the slough and hires Mark Hudson as their agent. Hudson works for the company until 1910.

1872 – Southern Pacific Railroad builds its main line from San Francisco along the edge of the slough.

A view of Watsonville Landing (now remembered as Hudson's Landing) after the rail bridge was built (at its present site across the north end of the slough). Click here for larger view.

(For comparison, here's a similar view of Hudson's Landing in 2004.)