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History · Hastings

Hastings dates to 1901

Most of Hastings was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1976. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1957 on, and the census since 1910.

1901founded
0on the National Register
5%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Hastings’ archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Hastings began

When was Hastings founded?

1901

Hastings dates its founding to 1901 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1910.

First census: 727 in 19102020 census: 104125 years
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1902.The full story ↓

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 writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ 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
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewMen on railroad station platform: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Hastings came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Hastings.

Read it all →

A community called Bayard existed at the site of present-day Hastings until the Kiowa, Comanche, and Apache Reservation was opened to new settlers on August 6, 1901. Since Indian Territory already had a post office named "Baird", the postal department named the station it established at this location. A couple of residents had suggested naming it for their hometown of Hastings, Nebraska. That was accepted by postal officials.

In 1902, a railroad line called the Enid and Anadarko built tracks through Hastings. The population was 560 in 1907 and 727 in 1910. The population has declined nearly continuously from 1910 until the present.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Hastings, 1901 to 1957

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1901
    FoundingHastings is established
  3. 1902Post officeThe Hastings post office opens
  4. 1919In the archiveMen on railroad station platform
  5. 1921Born hereJohn Green is born here
  6. 1957On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Hastings, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s2 items
Men on railroad station platform1919Men on railroad station platformMen on railroad station platform1919Men on railroad station platform
1920s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
On the map

Hastings on the map, 1957 to 1984

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 1957 USGS mapHastings on the 1984 USGS map1957Hastings 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.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Men on railroad station platform
Retake this viewMen on railroad station platform, 1919

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Hastings’ page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Hastings, census by census

0200400600800192019401960198020002020Peak: 727

Between 104 and 727 people in every census since 1910.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Questions about Hastings’ history

What year was Hastings founded?

In 1901, according to Wikidata. Hastings’ post office opened in 1902, and the census of 1910 counted 727 people here.

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (2), 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) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.