Alexander Square Traditional Geocache
-
Difficulty:
-
-
Terrain:
-
Size: 
(micro)
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
Parking to the east of the cache.
This spot was is part of the first homestead in the area, which belonged to Samuel and Harriet Alexander in 1871.
In August 2003 after several years of research and planning, the Central Hastings Historic District was added to the National Register of Historic Places. The Nebraska State Preservation office and the Department of the Interior recognized this stately old area of Hastings as being worthy of historic preservation. The historic district extends from Seventh Street on the south to Twelfth Street on the north, and from Bellevue Avenue on the west to Colorado Avenue on the east. It documents the development of Hastings from 1880 to 1950.
The earliest residences in what would become Hastings, a dug out and a sod house, were constructed just prior to the city's platting in 1872. That fall the St. Joseph and Denver City Railroad crossed the Burlington line, and Hastings was soon transformed into the commercial hub of central Nebraska with a population of 2,847 by 1880.
North Street, now Seventh Street, was Hastings' original northern boundary. In 1872 Samuel Alexander homesteaded the quarter section extending north from Seventh Street. He built the town’s second frame house and first store building, as well as serving as the first Hastings postmaster. In January 1878 Alexander's First Addition to Hastings was platted from a portion of his homestead. By 1880 15 homes had been built in the area that would become the Historic District. Hastings had passed through its frontier period and settled down to a decade of growth, which has never since been equaled.
Hastings grew from a raw prairie town into a city during the decade of the 1880s. The Kerr Opera House was built in 1884, the Bostwick Hotel opened in 1885, Parkview Cemetery and the city water works were established in 1886. Large brick blocks, including the 1886 Masonic Temple block, were constructed downtown. Hastings, like much of Nebraska, owed its existence to railroads, and railroad fever was raging. By 1887 five railroads served Hastings, and there were rumors of several more to come.
Make sure you take time to check out his area as it has some very nice homes.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Gur pnpur jvyy fgnl qel rira vs vg envaf.