Hastings, West Virginia facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Hastings
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 Hastings
Location in West Virginia
Hastings
Location in the United States
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| Country | United States |
| State | West Virginia |
| County | Wetzel |
| Time zone | UTC-5 (Eastern (EST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-4 (EDT) |
Hastings is an unincorporated community in Wetzel County, West Virginia, United States. It lies at an elevation of 755 feet (230 m). An unincorporated community is a place with a shared identity but no local government, unlike a city or town.
Contents
The Story of Hastings
How Hastings Began
Hastings was established in the early 1900s. It was a special kind of place called a "company town." This means the Hope Natural Gas Company built it for their workers. The town was named after Dennis Hastings, who was the first superintendent of the natural gas processing plant there.
At its busiest, Hastings had hundreds of people living in about fifty company houses. It was a lively community with many facilities. There was a church, a school, and a company store where people could buy what they needed.
Life and Fun in Hastings
The community also had an athletic field for sports. There were indoor facilities for basketball, table tennis, and billiards. These spaces also served as a theater for entertainment. A hotel in Hastings provided lodging for company employees visiting for work.
During the 1920s and 1930s, the company had its own baseball team. They played games around the Ohio Valley and at home in Hastings. These Sunday afternoon games were very popular, with hundreds of people watching. A famous player, Floyd Giebell, who later pitched for the Detroit Tigers, played here.
Hastings Today
Hastings was a thriving community until the late 1960s. As younger people grew up and older residents retired, many began to move away. Today, Hastings is almost a ghost town. Only two of the original company houses remain.
Former residents used to hold reunions in Hastings. This tradition continued into the 1980s. Eventually, there were too few people, and they became too elderly to keep the reunions going.
The gas company that started Hastings changed its name several times. It went from Hope Natural Gas Company to Consolidated Gas Supply Corporation, then to CNG. In 2000, Dominion Resources of Virginia bought the company. Dominion still operates a natural gas processing site and loading stations in Hastings and nearby Galmish.
What's the Weather Like?
Hastings has a climate known as a Humid subtropical climate. On climate maps, this is often shown as "Cfa." This means the area has relatively high temperatures. It also gets a good amount of rain spread out evenly throughout the year.
