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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF HASTINGS
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THOMAS HORACE HASTINGS
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The Town of Hastings, Florida, named after Thomas Horace Hastings
(1860 - 1897), is located in the agricultural heart of the upper St. Johns
River Valley 45 miles south of Jacksonville, 10 miles northeast of
Palatka, and 15 miles southwest of St. Augustine. The area was first
settled by Native-Americans about 3,500 years ago. After the founding of
St. Augustine by the Spanish in 1565, Fort Picolata, about 10 miles nort
of present day Hastings, was established on the St. Johns River in the
late 1600's. The Fort was burned in 1740 by the British under Oglethorpe
during the War of Jenkins' Ear. The Fort was reconstructed in 1755 by the
Spanish.
The agricultural history of the Hastings area commenced with the
transfer of Florida from Spain to Great Britain in 1763. Upon transfer,
the British governor entered into the Treaty of Fort Picolata with the
Native-Americans, thus, opening the St. Johns River Valley for peaceful
agricultural settlement. Among the large farms established along the river
near what was to become Hastings were Rollestown established by English
philanthropist Denys Rolle in 1767, the Wiggins Plantation near present
day Tocoi established following the return of the Spanish in 1783 by Job
or Joseph Wiggins; and the Philip Fatio Plantation at New Switzerland.
Rollestown was originally called "Charlotta" after Rolle's mother,
Isabella Charlotta Walter Rolle. Rolle also named his daughter Isabella
Henrietta Charlotta. Rollestown occupied 20,000 acres and was devoted to
citrus, cattle and naval stores. The enterprise was intended as a utopian
agricultural community for the poor, a land of "Peace and Plenty." With
the withdrawal of the British in 1783, Rolle moved his community in the
trading ship the Peace and Plenty to Exuma in the Bahama's where he
established the twin communities of Rolletown and Rolleville.
FORT
PICOLATA
Credit: Florida Bureau of Archives, Departmnent of State,
Tallahassee.
Job or Joseph Wiggins was Rolle's agent at Rollestown and stayed there
following Rolle's withdrawal for a short period of time before
establishing his own plantation near present-day Tocoi. Upon Wiggins'
death, the plantation was sold. Wiggin's widow, Nancy Wiggins was
disallowed any inheritance by the Spanish authorities since she was not
legally married, the nuptuals have been performed in an Anglican Church
rather than in a Catholic Church as required by Spanish law.
. In the 1790's, Indian attacks became more frequent and the farms and
plantations along the St. Johns River were abandoned. American troops
under Andrew Johnson invaded Florida to put down Indian depredations. This
led, ultimately in 1821, to the treaty of Amity, Settlement and Limits
between the United States and Ferdinand VII whereby the United States
assumed possession the the two Floridas. War between the United States and
the Indians continued until the conclusion of the Second Seminole War
(1835-1842). That war required some 200,000 American troops to defeat some
3,000 - 4,000 Seminole Indians under the chief Micanopy. At various times
during the war, forts were established throughout the Hastings area. These
included Fort Hunter at Rollestown, Fort Shannon at Palatka on the site of
a trading post burned by the Indians, Fort New Buena Vista at East
Palatka, Fort Moccasin Branch near Orange Mills and Fort Hudson also near
Orange Mills, Fort Searle near Bakersville, Fort Weedman seven miles west
of St. Augustine, Fort Harney west of St. Augustine and Fort Hanson on
Deep Creek near Hastings. A military road was also created connecting St.
Augustine with the Rollestown area and Fort Brooke (present day Ocala).
The Indians again arose during the Third Seminole War (1855-1858). Thus,
essentially the area near Hastings remained unsettled until after the
Civil War.
MAIN
STREET, 1909
Credit: Florida Bureau of Archives
Following the end of the Civil War, Jacksonvile, Green Cove
Springs and St. Augustine began to develope as winter resorts for rich
northerners. In the 1870's New Yorker Utley J. White commenced the
development of narrow guage railroad to support a logging industry. His
railroads reached the southern portions of St. Johns County in the mid-
1880's. White's railroad was purchased by Henry Morrison Flagler who
commenced its conversion to standard guage. In the 1890, Thomas H.
Hastings estabished a farm known as Prairie Garden at what was to become
Hastings. There, using greenhouses, Hastings was able to supply vegetables
for the hotels constructed by Henry Morrison Flagler. At about the same
time, Flagler extended his Florida East Coast Railroad to Prairie Garden
and called the station "Hastings Station." This, in turn, permitted the
shipping of potatoes to northern markets and the development of the potato
industry. By 1901, the Hastings area shipped 43,000 bushels of Irish
potatoes and 23,000 bushels of sweet potatoes and had become the "Potato
Capital of Florida". Other businesses were established including
merchantiles and the Middleton House Hotel, rates $1.50 a day.
Transportation other than by train remained a problem with the abysmal
conditions of the roads.
POTATO BARRELS
Credit: Florida Bureau of Archives
The need for barrels in which to ship the potatoes also
resulted in the formation of a barrel factory. In 1909, the Town was
incorporated by a Special Act of the Legislature. Growth continued. The
road problem was, however, solved with the formation of the Dixie Highway
Association. The Dixie Highway was, itself an outgrowth of the Lincoln
Highway Association formed In 1913 under the auspices of Carl G. Fisher
(1874-1939), of the Prest-O-Lite Company and later developer of Miami
Beach; Henry C. Ostermann a promoter for the Buffalo Bill's Wild West; and
Henry B. Joy, president of the Packard Motor Car Company. That association
itself arose out of the Good Roads Movement in which state Senator Austin
S. Mann originally of Hernando County and later Jacksonville was
nationally active. Mann was the father-in-law of Governor William Sherman
Jennings. The Good Roads Association arose out of a bicycle group, The
League of American Wheelmen formed in 1880. It had as a slogan, "Lifting
Our People Out of the Mud." In early 1915, the route for the Dixie Highway
was designated as running through Hastings, with a connector from Hastings
to Orlando. The town celebrated its designation as being on the Dixie
Highway with a parade with decoraded floats, carrages and automobiles.
ENTRANT IN 1915 PARADE IN FROMT OF MATHIS MERCANTILE
CO.,
Photo courtesy Florida Bureau of Archives.
Traces of the original Dixie Highway and the connector are
visible today in Hastings. For a scenic drive along the old Connector in
the Hastings area:
Head west along Florida 207
Turn right on to Campbell Rd
/ Old Hastings Brick Rd and head west
Turn left on Federal Point Rd
and head southwest
Turn left on County 207A
Turn right on to
Florida 207 and head south to East Palatka
Turn left on Old San Mateo
Rd / San Mateo Brick Rd and head southward to San Mateo
PARTICIPANTS IN 1915 PARADE.
Photo courtesy Florida
Bureau of Archives.
The touring car decorated with Spanish moss at the lower
right-hand portion of the photo was the winner of the first place price
for best decorated vehicle. The scene appears to be at the intersection of
N. Main Street and St. Johns Ave. looking in the direction of the present
site of the Potato Exhange Building.
Business Section, 1929
Photo courtesy Florida Bureau of
Archives.
As indicated in the photo, Hastings remains the "Potato
Capital of Florida." Although, Hastings is rapidly become a home for many
who work in nearby St. Augustine, Palatka, and Jacksonville, the area
retains its rich agriculural history. The area is a center for numerous
potato, cabbage, and sod farming operations. In recognition of the growth,
the Town adopted a new City Charter in 2005. The Charter provides for a
Town Manager - Town Commission form of government in which the
administration of the Town is entrusted to a professional city manager
responsible to the City Commission which sets policy. The Town owns and
operates its own water and sewer system.
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