Hastings, Nebraska

Hastings is the county seat of Adams County in central southern Nebraska. It covers 10 sq mi (25.8 sq km) and has a population of around 25,000 people (2011 estimate). The city is located to the south of Grand Island. Connecting the two cities is US Highway 281.

St Mark's Episcopal Pro-Cathedral, Hastings, Nebraska
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:St._Mark%27s_(Hastings,_Nebraska)_from_W_1.jpg
Author: Ammodramus


Hastings' claim to fame is that Kool-Aid was invented there by Edwin Perkins in 1927. The city celebrates this trivia by holding a Kool-Aid Day every year, on the second weekend of August.

The city of Hastings was founded as a railway junction in 1872. It is the site where the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad intersects the St Joseph and Denver City Railroad. The town was named after Colonel D.T. Hastings, who was also with a railroad company.

Rail infrastructure helped to fuel the growth of Hastings, bringing in English immigrants mainly from Liverpool as well as Irish, German, Danish and ethnic Germans to the area. After fire in 1879 destroyed the old town, it was rebuilt with beautiful Victorian buildings.

A drought in the 1890s sapped the growth from Hastings, but it began to grow again between 1900 to 1930. During that time, it one of the biggest cigar-making factories in the United States. However the Great Depression hit the city badly, and once again its growth was exhausted.

Visiting Hastings

Take Interstate 80 to Exit 312 then head south on Tom Osborne Expressway (US Highway 281) to reach Hastings.

Places of Interest in Hastings

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