CURRENT EXHIBITION

Made In Hastings: Echoes of Our Industrial Past

Have you ever wondered about the history of industry in our village? Where were the first factories located? What exactly used to be on the now mostly empty waterfront?
Come find out! Our new exhibit, Made in Hastings: Echoes of Our Industrial Past, delves into our village’s rich industrial heritage.

Learn how industry in Hastings began with a marble quarry in the 1820s and water-powered mills in the ravine behind today’s James V. Harmon Community Center. Explore the rise of waterfront factories like the Hudson River Steam Sugar Refinery, the Hastings Pavement Company, and Anaconda Wire & Cable, and see how the arrival of the Hudson River Railroad in 1849 transformed the village.

By 1930, Hastings was a vibrant hub of immigrant workers, with nearly 70% of residents foreign-born, speaking 30 languages, and shaping the cultural fabric of the village through clubs, churches, and social life.

This exhibit highlights the industries, people, and communities that defined Hastings—while inspiring a vision for the future of the waterfront.

 

Exhibition Curators

Jake Andrus, Student Intern
Natalie Barry
Jan Clough
Amy Farber
Claudia Gisolfi
Kimberly Janeway

Ginny Kazura
Marie Paquette
Ben Smith, Student Intern
Sue Smith
Lisa Zimmerman 

Designer
Lindsey Jeanne Taylor

Women gluing cork into bottle caps at the Zinsser plant in May of 1914. On the far left are Elizabeth Schlachter (later Dumbrowski) and Anna Butler; in the center is possibly Tom O’Leary, and to his right are Mary McDonald and Helen Schlachter. In the foreground is Kitty Crotty (later Winstanley).
By the 1930s, only a handful of small establishments remained on the western edge of the ravine. Note the industry along the waterfront and the “fog” emanating from the Pavement Company smokestack.
Residents on the steps of Cotlets Hotel in the 1920s. This boarding house, sometimes referred to as “the Mud House,” was popular with single immigrant workers. It was situated in the ravine, what was once known as "Frog Hollow" under the Warburton Avenue Bridge.