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AHistory
History · Hastings

Hastings’ post office opened in 1839, and 29% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 90% of U.S. towns · #64 of 701 in Michigan. What drives it

Its Register listings are the Daniel Striker House, the Barry County Courthouse Complex and the Shriner-Ketcham House. Below: maps from 1884 on and the census since 1870.

1839first post office
3on the National Register
29%homes built before 1940
8famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Hastings began

When was Hastings founded?

1839

The Hastings post office opened in 1839, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 1,793 in 18702020 census: 7,514187 years

How historic is Hastings?

A

More historic than 90% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Hastings post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Hastings’ History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Hastings is more historic than 90% of U.S. towns, #64 of 701 in Michigan. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.

A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Hastings’ overall grade.
Founding era1839, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194029.4% of homes (±5.3) · typical MI town 11.9% · U.S. 8.4%A−National Register3 listings, 4 historic buildings, 5.3 per 10,000 residents · typical MI town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 90%
NewerOlder
Michigan towns of 2,500+ (701)Ahead of 91%

Few Michigan towns list much on the Register (a typical Michigan town has 0.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Hastings’ 5.3 sits above most of its state (76% of Michigan towns have fewer) while its 4 historic buildings outnumber those of 68% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A− to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.3 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Hastings’ past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Hastings are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Mapped building by building6 fire insurance maps, 1884 to 1916, drew every building in Hastings.Deep rootsA post office since 1839: 187 years of Hastings.Old housesHalf of Hastings’ homes were built before 1958.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Hastings’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Hastings’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Every building

Hastings, building by building, 1884–1916

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Hastings fire insurance map, 1884, sheet 11884Sheet 1 of 2
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Timeline

Hastings, 1839 to 1951

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1839Post officeThe Hastings post office opens
  3. 1854Born hereLoyal Edwin Knappen is born here
  4. 1866Born hereMary Cynthia Dickerson is born here
  5. 1892BuiltBarry County Courthouse Complex is built
  6. 20th century
  7. 1936Born hereGordon Johncock is born here
  8. 1951On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story

How Hastings came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Hastings.

Read it all →

In 1836 three entrepreneurs named Dibble, Kingsbury and Kendall bought 480 acres (1.9 km2) along the Thornapple River from Detroit banker Eurotas P. Hastings. The three platted the area into lots, and soon a small community arose. In 1843, the state legislature designated Hastings as the county seat of Barry County. The first paper, the Barry County Pioneer, began publishing in 1851, and a second paper, the Republican Banner, began in 1856. The latter publication, a weekly paper published on Thursdays, continues to be published as the Hastings Banner.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Hastings, decade by decade

Today11 recent
Hastings Railroad Depot2014Hastings Railroad DepotHastings Mutual Insurance Co2014Hastings Mutual Insurance CoGovernor Kim Sigler2014Governor Kim SiglerGeorge Lowry House2014George Lowry HouseEnd of Summer at Pierce Cedar Creek Institute2014End of Summer at Pierce Cedar Creek InstituteConservationists at Pierce Cedar Creek Institute2014Conservationists at Pierce Cedar Creek InstituteCentral Elementary School2014Central Elementary SchoolCarlton Township Hall2014Carlton Township HallHastings, MI IMG 5059 022013Hastings, MI IMG 5059 02Hastings MI IMG 5059 042013Hastings MI IMG 5059 04Hastings MI IMG 5059 012011Hastings MI IMG 5059 01
On the map

Hastings on the map, 1951 to 1982

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Hastings. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Hastings on the 1951 USGS mapHastings on the 1982 USGS map1951Hastings sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Hastings.

On the National Register

3 historic places in Hastings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
3
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
4
each building in a district counts
first listed
1972
Daniel Striker House
Daniel Striker HouseBarry County Courthouse Complex, built 1892Shriner-Ketcham House
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Queen Anne1
Romanesque1
Italianate1
Daniel Striker HouseQueen Anne
Barry County Courthouse ComplexRomanesque · Built 1892
Shriner-Ketcham HouseItalianate

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Hastings, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,000188019001920194019601980200020207,514

Grew from 1,793 people in 1870 to 7,514 in 2020, 4 times over.

16 censuses, 1870–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Hastings’ Wikipedia page.

Famous people

8 famous people were born in Hastings

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Mary Cynthia DickersonAmerican herpetologist, museum curator and maga… · b. 1866
Gordon JohncockAmerican racecar driver · b. 1936
Angela RigasAmerican politician from Michigan
Loyal Edwin KnappenUnited States federal judge · b. 1854
B
Bruce RendonAmerican politician · b. 1951
C
Charles Rufus MoreyAmerican art historian · b. 1877
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Rutland TownshipIts storyCHastings TownshipIts storyB−

Questions about Hastings’ history

What year was Hastings founded?

The Hastings post office opened in 1839, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Hastings rank for history?

Hastings is more historic than 90% of U.S. towns, #64 of 701 in Michigan. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

What is on the National Register in Hastings?

Three places: the Daniel Striker House (listed 1972), the Barry County Courthouse Complex (1981) and the Shriner-Ketcham House (1987).

How old are the homes in Hastings?

29% of Hastings’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.3 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1958.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

From Wikimedia Commons (11), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (3), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.