Hastings’ post office opened in 1854, and 16 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 60% of U.S. towns · #76 of 273 in Minnesota. What drives it
Most of Hastings was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1984. 16 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 49 buildings between them. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1884 on, and the census since 1860.
Founding year: the first Hastings post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1857.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 60% of U.S. towns, #76 of 273 in Minnesota. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Hastings’ overall grade.
Minnesota towns list about as much on the Register as the country (a typical Minnesota town has 2.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Hastings’ 28.0 sits above most of its state (88% of Minnesota towns have fewer) while its 62 historic buildings outnumber those of 86% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B+. The pre-1940 share (±1.6 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1857 falls in the same era, so the grade doesn’t depend on which one is used.
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.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Every building
Hastings, building by building, 1884–1911
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.
In the winter of 1820, a military detachment from Fort Snelling settled the area around Hastings to guard a blocked shipment of supplies. Lieutenant William G. Oliver camped in an area that came to be known as Oliver's Grove; in 1833 a trading post was opened there. After the Treaty of Mendota of 1851 opened the area for white settlement, Oliver's Grove was surveyed and incorporated as a city in 1857, a year before Minnesota's admission to the Union. The same year, Hastings was named the county seat of Dakota County. The name "Hastings" was drawn out of a bucket from suggestions placed in it by several of the original founders.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
The Hastings post office opened in 1854, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1857.
How does Hastings rank for history?
Hastings is more historic than 60% of U.S. towns, #76 of 273 in Minnesota. 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?
16 listings: 13 buildings, among them the William G. Le Duc House (listed 1970, the first), 2 historic districts, the East Second Street Commercial Historic District and the West Second Street Residential Historic District, with 49 contributing buildings, and 1 site. 62 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Hastings?
9% of Hastings’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.6 points), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 1984.
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 (5), Wikidata (7), the National Register of Historic Places (16), 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.
1874
