Adams County

My name is Katie. I am a sophomore at Downers Grove North High. I am involved in the theater programs in school. I have been in or worked on three plays so far, including My Emperors New Clothes, Guys and Dolls, and the Wind in the Willows. I am on the speech team also. I play on the school soccer team, and a team out side of school called the Storm. My history teacher is going on a cross country bicycle trip across the U.S. His route will start in San Francisco and end in Boston. He had his students help him research his trip. I have researched Adams County, Nebraska. But not without the help of a woman named Catherine Renschler. I contacted her through e-mail and she took time out of their busy day to help me answer the questions I had about Adams County.

Catherine Renschler:
works in the Hastings Museum of History and gave me the information I needed to complete the history portion of this project.

Thank you very much to her. Her help was very appreciated.

The towns in Adams County include Hansen, Hastings, and Juanitia; Hastings being the largest and most populated. All of the information on this website will be about Hastings because there was little information about Juanitia and even less about Hansen. Here are the things I learned from my report:

County Information
* The Hastings County website is: http://www.hastingsnet.com/index.htm
* The population of Hastings is about 22,000+ people.

Geography
* The average daily temperature in June, July, and August is about 85-90 degrees.
* The farther North you go the flatter the land. The farther South the more hills you will encounter because of the Platte river. Hastings is 1,932 feet above sea level.
* Three quarters of the annual rainfall occur between April and September.

Geology
* The land surface in and around Hastings is shaped the way it is mostly because of the Platte River.

County History
* Nomadic Indians such as the Pawnee, Cheyenne, and the Sioux were the first inhabitants of Adams county. They are no longer living there because they were sent to reservations by Europeans.
* People settled here around 1871. Settlement was rapid and varied, however. Settlers from the eastern U.S. and Europe came because of the free home stead and the cheap railroad land.
* Some famous people that have been buried here or come out of Hastings are: Tom Osbourne, Roland Kirby, Harry Hopkins, and Edward Perkins ( See miscellaneous).
* For a timeline of history in Hastings Click here

Politics

Sociology

Arts

Miscellaneous
* Hastings is primarily an agricultural community with diverse industries, recreation, and attractions.
* Edward Perkins invented Kool-Aide ( which was originally called Fruit Smack) in 1927. He lived in Hastings with his wife Kitty.
* For a listing of restaurants in hastings Click Here
Some of these are chains but there are most likely a couple good ones in the bunch.
* There are no hot springs that I know of but there are a few public pools in the Hastings area.
* For listing of 1999 events Click Here
* There is also a listing of some free attractions available to visit while in Hastings. Among them are Fisher Fountain, the Highland Park Cemetary and Lake Hastings.
* There are also a few campgrounds listed in Hastings.
* An interesting page of links for Hastings is located on the public schools of Hastings' home page.

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