Photo: Mr. Matté (if there is an issue with this image, contact me using this image's Commons talk page, my Commons user talk page, or my English Wikipedia user talk page; I'll know about it a lot faster) · CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Mr. Matté (if there is an issue with this image, contact me using this image's Commons talk page, my Commons user talk page, or my English Wikipedia user talk page; I'll know about it a lot faster) · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers
How Hastings began
When was Hastings founded?
1888
The Hastings post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1889.
2020 census: 1,213138 years
How historic is Hastings?
B−
More historic than 54% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Hastings post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1889.
History grade
What drives Hastings’ History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Hastings is more historic than 54% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Hastings’ overall grade.
Pennsylvania towns list about as much on the Register as the country (a typical Pennsylvania town has 2.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Hastings’ 0.0 sits below most of its state (25% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% 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 is a Census survey estimate (±7.9 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1889 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.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Hastings yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Hastings is a borough in Cambria County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of the Johnstown, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2020 census, Hastings had a population of 1,213.
Its first post office opened in 1888. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,278 to 1,213 (-5%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Hastings in 1907
Passages that mention Hastings, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Cambria County, Pennsylvania1907 · page 215Read the page →
Read the text
Blubaker creek, the largest tributary of Chest creek, rises in the southwestern part of Elder township, and passes through the town of Hastings to its junction with the Little Blubaker creek, four miles beyond. Blubaker creek unites with Chest creek, just a short distance before the latter enters Clearfield county.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Cambria County, Pennsylvania1907 · page 473Read the page →
Read the text
sumed control, the wages were fixed at $1.50. This reduction caused some discontent among the workmen, and on the 17th when they were all paid, most of them left town. But General Hastings had immediately gathered together a force of two thousand men whom he had removing the wreckage at the Stone bridge, and on the 17th twenty-seven hundred men and two hundred teams were at work. Two days later the road under the Stone bridge was opened to travel.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Hastings, 1888 to 1933
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Hastings post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1889.
How does Hastings rank for history?
Hastings is more historic than 54% of U.S. towns. 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.
How old are the homes in Hastings?
42% of Hastings’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.9 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1947.
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 and Wikipedia for famous people, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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