McCord - Hastings

The U.S. Census indicated that in 1870, only 19 people lived in Adams County. The early settlers built their homes from the only plentiful material available at the time, the sod they walked on. Walter Micklin built the first house (a soddy) in Hastings, near the corner of Third and Burlington Avenue. Shown is a sod house owned by James Dean in 1885.

John Gillespie Moore, an Englishman, built the first frame building in 1871, a year before the towns founding. It was located on Saunders Avenue between Second and Third Streets. The lumber used was hauled by wagon from Grand Island, some 30 miles away.

Hastings was established at the junction of the Burlington and Missouri River and the St. Joseph and Denver City Railroads. As the B&MR expanded west, they built supply points every 7 to 10 miles, which later became villages. Hastings was named after St. Joseph and Denver Railroad construction engineer, Major Thomas D. Hastings.

As the prairie town grew, the need for a schoolhouse was evident. In 1874, a fine three-story school was built, which was visible from a long distance away. It could accommodate nearly 300 students. Crops that year were doing well until the end of July, when a massive invasion of grasshoppers destroyed every green leaf within 48 hours.

Blakes Pioneer Meat Market was established in 1874, located at 707 West First Street. Fred Blake Jr. is shown wearing an apron standing near the window, and George P. Klein is mounted on the horse. Bringing cattle to the local market was common by 1879. Only a year earlier, county seat status had changed from Juniata (5 miles west) to Hastings after hotly contested elections.

The Hastings Town Company built the Denver House hotel on the northeast corner of Second and Denver in 1878. It was managed by J.M. Denver Smith. In 1884, the building was moved, and the Bostwick Hotel was built on the site. The new Denver Hotel burned in 1905.

The Hastings Fire Department was organized in 1878, a few months after a blaze that destroyed a local hotel. Most of the younger men in town served as firemen, all volunteers. This photo shows the first engine house (and first city hall, upstairs) which cost $1,000 to construct. It was located on the southwest corner of Third and Hastings, which would become courthouse square. A small jail was located just east of the engine house.

The Chilcote Building, 100106 North Hastings Avenue, was built in 1881, at a cost of $16,000. Along with stores and offices, the building housed the post office after the prior location burned. Early Hastings post offices had considerable problems with fires, as the Chilcote Building burned in 1887. Ironically, it burned the night before water was available from the new waterworks.

During the late evening of March 26, 1883, store owner Cassius M. Millet headed home. Three masked men attempted to rob Millet, but he ran and was shot and killed for his effort. Tensions ran high after the three were arrested. Before the trial was over, a vigilante group known as the Committee of the Thirty-Three forced the prisoners from officers and took them to a railroad bridge north of town. One was saved, but the other two were hung.

The Farrell Block, still located at Second Street and Denver Avenue, was built in 1880. The main floor housed stores including the J.H. Haney Saddlery, while the second floor was partially occupied by county offices. It was here that vigilantes forcefully took the Millet murder suspects from officers and lynched them. It continues to house businesses with apartments upstairs.