Hastings is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in the southwestern corner of St. Johns County, Florida, roughly 18 miles southwest of St. Augustine. The settlement traces its origins to 1890, when Thomas Horace Hastings, a cousin of railroad and resort developer Henry Flagler, was sent inland to grow winter vegetables for Flagler's coastal hotels. His potato operations grew into a broad agricultural enterprise, and the community was chartered as the town of Hastings in 1909, soon earning the nickname "Florida's Potato Capital." For generations, potato and produce farming anchored the local economy, with fields stretching across the flat, sandy terrain of the region. The area's fertile farmland and long growing season made it an important source of winter vegetables for markets across the eastern United States, and agriculture remains central to the community's identity today. The community was incorporated as a town for more than a century before residents voted in 2018 to dissolve the municipality, and Hastings now operates as an unincorporated area of St. Johns County with a population of roughly 1,300. Today Hastings pairs its working farmland with a walkable historic downtown that has been designated a Florida Main Street community. Local organizations and residents have invested in rehabilitating storefronts and public spaces, hosting farmers markets and events such as the Hastings Fall Festival of Art. The area retains an unhurried, Old Florida feel while sitting close to the growth corridors of St. Johns County and the attractions of St. Augustine, offering a quieter, more rural alternative within one of Florida's fastest-developing counties.