Hastings Nebraska - Nebraska Directory

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City · Adams County · County seat · Population 25,152 (2020 census) · ZIP 68901 · Founded 1872

About Hastings

Hastings is a city of 25,152 people (2020), the largest it has been, and the seat of Adams County, at 1,926 feet on the plains south of the Platte. US 6 and US 34 come in from the west together; US 34 turns north with US 281 on the Tom Osborne Expressway to I-80 (Exit 312) and Grand Island, about 23 miles north, and US 6 continues east toward Harvard. Amtrak’s California Zephyr stops at the 1902 Burlington depot. Hastings has Mary Lanning Healthcare, Hastings College, a Central Community College campus, Hastings Public Schools and the Catholic schools, the Hastings Museum, Lake Hastings and three golf courses. Hastings is on Central Time.

History

In 1872 the St. Joseph & Denver City Railroad crossed the Burlington & Missouri River line on Walter Micklen’s homestead, after Juniata turned down railroad bonds, and the town plat was filed on October 15 of that year. It was named for Col. Thomas D. Hastings, a contractor on the St. Joseph & Denver City, and incorporated in April 1874. Hastings won the county seat in an 1877 election, and the records were moved from Juniata on September 27, 1878. Hastings College opened in 1882, and the state asylum that became the Hastings Regional Center opened west of town in 1889. Edwin Perkins, who moved here in 1920, turned his bottled Fruit Smack into a powder in 1927 and sold it as Kool-Ade, later Kool-Aid; he moved the business to Chicago in 1931. In World War II the Navy built its largest inland ammunition depot on nearly 49,000 acres east of town; about 10,000 people worked there, and Hastings grew from about 15,200 people in 1942 to 23,000 in 1943. The depot closed in 1966, and its grounds now hold Central Community College and industry. Hastings was named an American World War II Heritage City in 2023.

Highways and trails through Hastings

Route	One way	Other way
US 6/34From the west together	West to Juniata, Kenesaw and Minden
US 34/281Tom Osborne Expressway	North to I-80 (Exit 312) and Grand Island
US 281North–south through the city	South to Ayr, Blue Hill and Red Cloud
US 6East on J Street	East to Harvard and Sutton

Nearby towns

Juniata	about 6 mi west	US 6/34
Glenvil	about 10 mi southeast	County roads
Ayr	about 11 mi south-southwest	US 281
Prosser	about 12 mi west-northwest	County roads
Doniphan	about 12 mi north	US 34/281
Roseland	about 12 mi southwest	US 281 and NE 74
Kenesaw	about 14 mi west	US 6/34
Harvard	about 15 mi east	US 6
Holstein	about 16 mi west-southwest	NE 74
Blue Hill	about 18 mi south	US 281
Grand Island	about 23 mi north	US 34/281
Minden	about 31 mi west-southwest	US 6/34
Red Cloud	about 36 mi south	US 281
Kearney	about 37 mi west-northwest	US 6/34 or I-80

Things to see

the Hastings Museum (natural history, planetarium, Kool-Aid exhibit) · the Burlington depot, 501 W. First St. (1902, National Register) · the Kool-Aid birthplace plaque, 518 W. First St. · the Naval Ammunition Depot marker on the former depot grounds · Chautauqua Pavilion and Heartwell Park · the Sachtleben Observatory · the Corvair Museum of America · Lake Hastings and its disc golf course · the Thirty-Two Mile Station site, about 7 miles southwest

Events in Hastings

Adams County Fairfest
Adams County Fair, a county fair in Hastings, Nebraska.
Celebration of Lights
Downtown Hastings holiday lighting celebration in November, run by the Hastings Area Chamber.
Kool-Aid Days
Oregon Trail Rodeo
Oregon Trail Rodeo is an annual rodeo held each August at the Adams County Fairgrounds.

Know of another event here? Tell us about it.

Schools and health care

Schools: Hastings Public Schools, 1515 W. 8th St., (402) 461-7500: Hastings Senior High (9–12), Hastings Middle School (6–8), Alcott, Hawthorne, Lincoln, Longfellow and Watson elementaries and Morton Early Learning Center; St. Cecilia Middle/High School and St. Michael’s Elementary; Zion Classical Academy; Adams Central Public Schools west of town; Hastings College; Central Community College – Hastings

Health care: Mary Lanning Healthcare, 715 N. St. Joseph Ave., (402) 463-4521, a full-service hospital and trauma center; Good Samaritan Society – Hastings Village nursing home

Sources: U.S. Census; Wikipedia; Adams County (adamscountyne.gov); City of Hastings; Andreas, History of the State of Nebraska (1882); Past and Present of Adams County (1916); NEGenWeb Adams County; History Nebraska (Naval Ammunition Depot, Kool-Aid, Crystal Lake markers); National Park Service; National Register; Amtrak; Nebraska Game and Parks; Hastings Visitors Guide (CVB); Nebraska 211; KSNB; KRVN; SchoolDigger. Distances marked "about" are straight-line estimates.