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Hastings, Minnesota

12 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1953 and the latest in 1990. It stands in Hastings City. It lies in ZIP code area 55033. The Survey maps it on the Hastings quadrangle. 22,154 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 728 feet above sea level.

Hastings within Dakota County

On record in Hastings

Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.

On the National Register 12 of 17 shown

Every listing in Dakota County

Population over time

2 figures

Hastings fell from 22,172 to 22,154 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.

YearPeople Change
201022,172
202022,154-18 (-0%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

8 surveys from 12 printed sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

In the county-history sources

18,078 words on this township

Dakota County, published 1868 names this settlement in its chapter on Hastings City. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.

The first bank in Hastings was merely a bank of exchange, and operated by Thorne 6z FoUett, in 1856. In lSo9 Mr. Thorne made it a bank of issue, with a capital of 825,000, called Thome's Bank. On the same day that the bills were issued, Messrs. Follett 6: Eennick issued bills on the Bank of Hastings. The Bank of Hastings is now known as the First National, and Thome's Bank as the Merchants' JSTational.

Passage source: Dakota County, published 1868.

The Star Works Manufacturing Company went into operation in 1866, with the following officers: J. F. E-ehse President, W. F. Bacon Secretary, Charles Pearson Superintendent. They manufiicture all kinds of agricultural implements, railroad work, S:c.j and employ about fifteen men, doing an annual business of from 820,000 to 830,000.

Passage source: Dakota County, published 1868.

As early as 1S5G, Hon. W. G. LeDuc succeeded in getting a bill passed by tlie Territorial Legislature ojranting a charter for the building of the Hastings, Minnesota Kiver and Red River of the Xorth Railroad. A company was organized under the provisons of tlie charter and the organization maintained up till the time of the breaking out of the war, when all local enterprises were forgotten or lai'd aside to attend to the demands of the country in its hour of peril, and railroads that had been projected but not commenced Avere all at a stand-still. Meantime the Minnesota Central, now Milwaukee, St. Paul and Minneapolis Railroad, was built through nearly the centre of the county, and consequently drew largely from the trade and business of Hastings. The business men of the city were somewhat depressed in spirit on account of the reaction and the cutting oil of the rich agricultural rea'ion which had heretofore been tributary thereto, and resolved to make another effort to put themselves in railroad coniniunication with the outside world, and during the session of the Legislature of 18C)G, Gen. LeDuc, who had just returned from the war, succeeded in getting a renewal of the charter for that road, as well as legislative authority for the city of Hastings to issue bonds to aid in the construction of the road. A memorial to C(r.]gres3 asking a grant of lands for this road was also V'assed by the Legislature. Mr. LeDuc, immediately upon the adjournment of the Legislature, repaired to Washirgton, and with the aid of the Hon. I. Donnelly, member- of Congress from Hastings, sustained by the whole delegation from Minnesota, a grant was obtained of tQii sections per mile. A competent engineer was employed to run a preliminary survey from Big Stone Lake to Hastings. The survey was pushed forward as fast as possible. As the first snows of winter whitened the landscape the last stake was stuck on the banks of the Mississippi. Early the following spring grading was commenced, and as the city had voted to issue bonds to the amount of $100,000 to aid the enterprise, people began to have some confidence in its ultimate success, feeling assured that the road would at least be built as far as Farmington, to connect with the Milwaukee, St. Paul and Minneapolis Railway, and thus give them a railroad connection with the East. AVork was pushed forward as rapidly as funds could 'be jn-oeured, and in 1867 nearly twenty miles of the road was graded.

Passage source: Dakota County, published 1868.

Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.

Read the whole chapter on Hastings City - it names this place 56 more 56 times.

Fires near this place

2 since 2012

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 2 fires within 5 miles of Hastings between 2012 and 2020, burning about 10 acres in total. None started naturally. None was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Missing data/not specified/undetermined1
Equipment and vehicle use1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
24 March 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreWisconsin Department of Natural Resources200021
17 March 2012Equipment and vehicle use10 acresMinnesota Valley National Wildlife RefugeINNOVATION

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Dakota County

Mines and quarries near this place

2 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of Hastings: 1 unknown, 1 past producer. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Stone, Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Christenson QuarryStoneUnknown
Prescott Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Dakota County

Storms near this place

42 since 1996

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Hastings in 42 storm reports between 1996 and 2026: 20 hail, 17 thunderstorm wind, 2 tornado, 2 funnel cloud. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
June 2007HailHastings$12,000,000Hail was reported to be the size of hockey pucks. Many houses and vehicles were damaged in and around Hastings. Damage amount reported by the Hastings Star-Gazette.
June 2005HailHastings$1,000,000A car dealership suffered significant hail damage losses. Widespread roof and siding damage was also reported.
June 2017Thunderstorm WindHastings$100,000There were 8 homes that had trees fall onto their roofs and cause damage, and about 1500 people lost power. All this damage occurred in a small area of town (about a 6-8 block radius) from 15th Street south to the Vermillion River.
August 2021Thunderstorm WindHastings$50,000In the Industrial Park, on Spiral Blvd, there was a storage building leveled, and other assorted trees snapped. Most of the tree damage was on the south end of Hastings.
June 2012Thunderstorm WindHastings$50,000An 18 inch diameter tree was uprooted in Hastings. Plus, an assistant living apartment complex building in Hastings had part of its roof blown off.
July 2009Thunderstorm WindHastings$10,000The Emergency Manager of Dakota County reported several pine trees blown down along with 8 diameter tree branches on the south side of Highway 316 in Hastings.
July 2010Thunderstorm WindHastings$3,000A two foot diameter tree was snapped in half at 19th street and Vermillion in the southern part of Hastings, Minnesota. In addition, a tree was sheared in half and blocked part of Fraser Street in the northeast part of Hastings.
April 2026HailHastings-Photo measurement provided via Facebook.
August 2025Heavy RainHastings-Cocorahs station MN-DK-281 Hastings 5.3 SE. 72 hour total of 5.35 inches.
May 2022HailHastings-There was a social media picture of 1 inch hail.
May 2022Thunderstorm WindHastings-A two foot diameter tree was blown down south of Hastings. This was additional damage from the severe thunderstorm that produced a tornado south of this location.
July 2014Thunderstorm WindHastings-Several large tree limbs were blown down in Hastings.
May 2013Thunderstorm WindHastings-Several trees were blown down in Hastings, Minnesota. Plus, power outages were reported in the town of Hastings.
June 2010Thunderstorm WindHastings-Several large tree limbs were blown down in Hastings, Minnesota.
August 2007Thunderstorm WindHastings-Tree down on house.
June 2005Thunderstorm WindHastings-Several power lines and trees up to 2 feet in diameter were downed. A few downed trees damaged homes. The hardest hit area was just north of County Road 47 and south of Highway 55.
June 2001HailHastings-At Highways 61 and 316.
May 1998Thunderstorm WindHastings-Trees down and buildings damaged. Barn destroyed near Vermillion. Estimated windspeed.
May 1998Thunderstorm WindHastings-400 trees blown over. Estimated windspeed.
July 1997Thunderstorm WindHastings-Tree blown down onto road. Estimated windspeed.
July 2023HailHastings-no account filed
July 2020HailHastings-no account filed
July 2020HailHastings-no account filed
July 2020HailHastings-no account filed
August 2019HailHastings-no account filed
August 2016HailHastings-no account filed
June 2014Funnel CloudHastings-no account filed
June 2014Funnel CloudHastings-no account filed
August 2013HailHastings-no account filed
August 2013HailHastings-no account filed
August 2013HailHastings-no account filed
May 2012HailHastings-no account filed
May 2011HailHastings-no account filed
May 2011HailHastings-no account filed
July 2009HailHastings-no account filed
May 2004HailHastings-no account filed
March 1998Tornado (F0)Hastings-no account filed
May 1998Thunderstorm WindHastings-no account filed
June 1996Thunderstorm WindHastings-no account filed
June 1996HailHastings-no account filed
June 1996Thunderstorm WindHastings-no account filed
July 1996Tornado (F0)Hastings-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Dakota County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
Nininger3.2 miles18
Sedil6.4 miles18
Vermillion7.8 miles12
Etter8.1 miles15
Coates9.8 miles13
Pine Bend10.0 miles28
Miesville10.1 miles11
Rich Valley10.1 miles13

Elsewhere

Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.

Wikipedia article on HastingsAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q994793The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0).

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 644715. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.