Hastings, Nebraska

Hastings Museum of Natural and Cultural History

Hastings Museum.... What a wonderful world!

From immense polar bears to tiny hummingbirds, the many forms of animal life from around the planet are on display in dioramas representing the natural habitat of each.

The City Auditorium

Well-known buildings are usually notable for their architectural size or history. That is certainly the case of the City Auditorium, constructed between 1922 and 1924 at a cost of nearly $130,000. City fathers originally

The Kool-Aid Birth Place

This building is known locally as the birthplace of Kool-Aid. More accurately, it was the home of the Perkins Products Company, the manufacturing and retail enterprise of Kool-Aid inventor Edwin E. Perkins and his family. The company was housed here from 1923 until 1931

Crane Meadows Observatory

Crane Meadows Nature Center is a year-round educational organization dedicated to providing an understanding of, and access to, the ecosystems of the Platte River valley. Open daily, with expanded hours during the crane season (8 a.m.-6 p.m.)

Nebraska Loan and Trust Company

Cities and agricultural areas need capital to finance growth. Nebraska Loan and Trust Company, organized in 1882 with James B. Heartwell as need in Hastings by providing a means for Eastern Capitalists to invest in Nebraska real estate mortgages. In 1883-84