# Hastings, Minnesota *City and county seat of Dakota County, Minnesota; subject of one at-issue pair in the project's record.* Hastings is the county seat of Dakota County. Most of the city lies in that county, and a portion extends into Washington County. It stands near the meeting of the [[Mississippi River]], the Vermillion and the St. Croix, and the 2020 census recorded 22,154 residents.[^1] The city takes its name from [[Henry Hastings Sibley]], Minnesota's first elected governor.[^2] Dakota County's own history places the county seat at Kaposia in 1853, at [[Mendota]] in 1854, and at Hastings from 1857.[^3] In the project's record, Hastings appears in the accounting of the 3M PFAS drinking-water settlement. The settlement [[Working Group]]'s Fall 2025 notes record cumulative capital commitments of $515 million and estimated need of $575 million by the end of FY2026. They report a separate capital shortfall of about $26 million. They estimate that the transition back to the [[2007 Consent Order]] will come "in the second half of calendar year 2027". The same notes list the Hastings project as under construction and over budget.[^4] The *[[Star Tribune]]* reports that all six Hastings wells exceed EPA limits. It also reports that the city needs $68.9 million and has received $14 million.[^5] The city is also the seat of the county's prosecution. A 1998 Minnesota Court of Appeals opinion gives the [[Dakota County Attorney]]'s address as the Dakota County Judicial Center, 1560 West Highway 55, Hastings.[^6] ## Who The founders chose the name by drawing it from a bucket of their suggestions, and the name they drew honored Sibley.[^2] The [[Minnesota Historical Society]] holds Sibley's gubernatorial records. They include a folder titled *Letters Received, 1859: Wright County Affair*. The project's research did not retrieve that folder's contents.[^7] In the mid-19th century, [[Ignatius L. Donnelly]] promoted the Hastings–Prescott–Nininger area as a possible "New Chicago". The Panic of 1857 ended that land speculation.[^8] The caption of *State v. Selbitschka*, No. C3-98-173 (Minn. Ct. App. Sept. 8, 1998), names James C. Backstrom as Dakota County Attorney and Peter J. Orput as Assistant County Attorney. The court affirmed.[^6] The *Star Tribune* ran a report titled *Over and over, shooting probes exonerate officers*. According to the project's notes on it, the report names Hastings Sgt. James Galland and Brandon Rodriguez in its account of a grand jury "no bill".[^9] ## When In the winter of 1820, a detachment from [[Fort Snelling]] camped in the area to guard a stalled supply shipment. The camp of Lieutenant William G. Oliver gave the site the name Oliver's Grove, and a trading post opened there in 1833. The 1851 [[Treaty of Mendota]] opened the land to settlement. The site was then surveyed and incorporated in 1857, a year before statehood.[^10] Dakota County was organized in 1849 as one of the nine original counties of [[Minnesota Territory]]. It was named for the [[Dakota]] people.[^3] The county courthouse was completed in 1871. It is Minnesota's second-oldest surviving county courthouse, after the Washington County Courthouse in [[Stillwater]]. County offices began leaving it in 1974. The city bought the building in 1989 and rededicated it as City Hall in 1993.[^11] A spiral bridge over the Mississippi opened in 1895 and was demolished in 1951.[^11] ## Where The Census Bureau gives the city's area as 11.18 square miles: 10.24 square miles of land and 0.94 square miles of water. The Mississippi forms most of the northern boundary. The Vermillion crosses the south side of town and drops over a falls.[^12] Lock and Dam No. 2, in the city's northwest, lifts barge traffic upstream. [[Metro Transit]] bus routes do not reach Hastings, and Amtrak trains pass through without stopping. The city's principal routes include U.S. Highway 61 (Vermillion Street) and Minnesota State Highway 55.[^13] ## How much The Fall 2025 Working Group notes give the settlement's figures as follows: - $515 million in cumulative capital commitments; - $575 million in estimated need by the end of FY2026; - a capital shortfall of about $26 million; - about $137 million projected unobligated at the end of FY2026.[^4] The notes place [[Cottage Grove]] and [[Oakdale]] on temporary systems. They list [[Woodbury]] and Hastings as under construction and over budget.[^14] The *Star Tribune* reports that the fund "could run out by 2027". It reports that Hastings is raising water rates to cover roughly $54.9 million of its $68.9 million need. It also reports that 3M is contesting whether projects meet the "reasonable and necessary" standard under the 2007 Consent Order.[^15] The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency's FY2025 legislative report lists community project funding by city: | City | Community project funding | |---|---| | Woodbury | $251,960,201 | | Cottage Grove | $110,224,231 | | [[Lake Elmo]] | $2,353,000 | | Newport | $1,918,950 | | Hastings | $1,440,500 | | Total, key projects | $369,316,077 | [^16] The agency's $1,440,500 figure for Hastings differs from the *Star Tribune*'s report of $14 million received. The pack does not establish whether the two figures measure the same thing.[^16][^5] The 1871 courthouse cost $63,000.[^11] ## How many The 2020 census counted the following in Hastings:[^17] - 22,154 residents; - 9,129 households; - 9,390 housing units; - a median age of 40.7 years. The 2010 census had counted 22,172 residents.[^17] The *Star Tribune* reports two well counts. All six Hastings wells exceed EPA limits, and all twelve Cottage Grove wells exceed PFAS limits.[^18] HomeLine's *A Vision for the Next Decade* analyzes [[Metropolitan Council (Minnesota)]] Livable Communities Act data. It lists Hastings at 241 units. The same series gives a 2010 goal of 5,046 units for [[Apple Valley]] and an allocation of 5,227 units for [[Lakeville]].[^19] ## In the at-issue record The record's one at-issue pair for Hastings is AI-Washington-020. It appears in the section *The Referral Architecture & the County That Got the Prison Edition*. The pair is anchored on the settlement trustees' own accounting. Those Fall 2025 notes give $515 million committed, $575 million of estimated need, a capital shortfall of about $26 million, and a return to the 2007 Consent Order estimated for the second half of 2027.[^4] The pair sets that accounting beside the city-level gap reported by the *Star Tribune*. Hastings needs $68.9 million and has received $14 million, and all twelve Cottage Grove wells exceed PFAS limits.[^5][^18] ## Notes [^1]: Wikipedia, *Hastings, Minnesota* (revid 1378576128, retrieved 2026-10-27) — county seat; portion in Washington County; river confluence; 2020 population 22,154. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hastings,_Minnesota [^2]: Wikipedia, *Hastings, Minnesota* (retrieved 2026-10-27), lead and History — named for Henry Hastings Sibley; name drawn from a bucket of founders' suggestions. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hastings,_Minnesota [^3]: Dakota County, *History* (undated web page) — organized 1849 as one of nine original counties of Minnesota Territory; named for the Dakota people; county seat Kaposia 1853, Mendota 1854, Hastings 1857. https://dakotacountymn.gov/government/about/history [^4]: MPCA / 3M Settlement Working Group, *Fall 2025 Notes* (Fall 2025) — commitments $515 million; estimated need $575 million by end of FY2026; ~$26 million capital shortfall; ~$137 million projected unobligated; transition to the 2007 Consent Order estimated for second half of calendar 2027; Hastings under construction and over budget. https://3msettlement.state.mn.us/sites/3msettlement/files/2025-12/Fall%202025%20-%20Notes.pdf [^5]: *Star Tribune*, *3M settlement fund report* (undated in pack) — all six Hastings wells exceed EPA limits; Hastings needs $68.9 million against $14 million received. https://www.startribune.com/3m-settlement-minnesota-pfas-water/601287204 [^6]: Minnesota Court of Appeals, *State v. Selbitschka*, No. C3-98-173 (Sept. 8, 1998) (unpublished) — caption names James C. Backstrom, Dakota County Attorney, and Peter J. Orput, Assistant County Attorney, at the Dakota County Judicial Center, 1560 West Highway 55, Hastings; affirmed. https://law.justia.com/cases/minnesota/court-of-appeals/1998/173-1.html [^7]: Minnesota Historical Society, *Governor Henry Hastings Sibley records, finding aid* (undated) — folder "Letters Received, 1859: Wright County Affair," box 154.J.14.1B; contents not retrieved. https://storage.googleapis.com/mnhs-finding-aids-public/library/findaids/gov015.html [^8]: Wikipedia, *Hastings, Minnesota* (retrieved 2026-10-27), History — Donnelly's "New Chicago" promotion; Panic of 1857. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hastings,_Minnesota [^9]: *Star Tribune*, *Over and over, shooting probes exonerate officers* (undated in pack) — names Hastings Sgt. James Galland and Brandon Rodriguez; grand jury "no bill." https://startribune.com/over-and-over-shooting-probes-exonerate-officers/256790741 [^10]: Wikipedia, *Hastings, Minnesota* (retrieved 2026-10-27), History — 1820 Fort Snelling detachment; Oliver's Grove; 1833 trading post; Treaty of Mendota 1851; incorporation 1857. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hastings,_Minnesota [^11]: Wikipedia, *Hastings, Minnesota* (retrieved 2026-10-27), History — courthouse finished 1871 at $63,000; county move 1974; city purchase 1989; City Hall 1993; spiral bridge 1895–1951. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hastings,_Minnesota [^12]: Wikipedia, *Hastings, Minnesota* (retrieved 2026-10-27), Geography — Census Bureau area figures; Mississippi and Vermillion rivers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hastings,_Minnesota [^13]: Wikipedia, *Hastings, Minnesota* (retrieved 2026-10-27), Infrastructure — highways; Metro Transit and Amtrak service; Lock and Dam No. 2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hastings,_Minnesota [^14]: MPCA / 3M Settlement Working Group, *Fall 2025 Notes* (Fall 2025) — Cottage Grove and Oakdale on temporary systems; Woodbury and Hastings under construction and over budget. https://3msettlement.state.mn.us/sites/3msettlement/files/2025-12/Fall%202025%20-%20Notes.pdf [^15]: *Star Tribune*, *3M settlement fund report* (undated in pack) — fund "could run out by 2027"; Hastings raising rates to cover roughly $54.9 million; 3M contesting the "reasonable and necessary" standard under the 2007 Consent Order. https://www.startribune.com/3m-settlement-minnesota-pfas-water/601287204 [^16]: Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, *FY2025 legislative report* (FY2025) — community project funding totals by city, including Hastings $1,440,500; total key projects $369,316,077. https://www.pca.state.mn.us/sites/default/files/lrc-pfc-2sy25.pdf [^17]: Wikipedia, *Hastings, Minnesota* (retrieved 2026-10-27), Demographics — 2020 and 2010 census counts. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hastings,_Minnesota [^18]: *Star Tribune*, *3M settlement fund report* (undated in pack) — all 12 Cottage Grove wells exceed PFAS limits; all six Hastings wells exceed EPA limits. https://www.startribune.com/3m-settlement-minnesota-pfas-water/601287204 [^19]: HomeLine, *A Vision for the Next Decade* (undated) — analysis of Metropolitan Council LCA data; Apple Valley 5,046; Lakeville 5,227; Hastings 241. https://homelinemn.org/wp-content/uploads/A-Vision-for-the-Next-Decade-Final-Version.pdf