Joseph Warren

Joseph Warren, John Singleton Copley, ca. 1765, Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Gift of Carol Buckminster Brown

In 1799 Main Street was changed to Warren Street by resolution of the city council. Who the Warren of Warren Street has not been determined but there are indications that the street was named for American patriot Joseph Warren. Many people viewed him with veneration, as a martyr, and towns, counties and streets have been named after him across America.

Virtually everyone in Boston and beyond would have known of Joseph Warren, a prominent physician. He served as president of the Massachusetts Provincial Congress, was active in the Sons of Liberty, and was the person who enlisted Paul Revere in his famous ride.

Monument at Bunker Hill. Dr. Joseph Warren is buried in Forest Hills Cemetery, Boston, MA

The thirty Proprietors who founded Hudson were wealthy businessmen who knew John and Samuel Adams, James Madison and Thomas Jefferson and others. They likely knew Warren and may have wanted to honor him by naming Hudson’s Main Street after him.

Warren would be as well known to America’s school children as Benjamin Franklin except for a brave decision he made at Bunker Hill. He was commissioned a major general in the Massachusetts militia shortly before the Battle of Bunker Hill; rather than exercise his rank, he chose to participate as a private soldier and was killed when British forces stormed Breed’s Hill.