Hastings

This small town in the southwest corner of St. Johns County was once the market basket for St. Augustine. Founded in the late 19th Century, Hastings is named for Thomas Horace Hastings, a cousin of Henry Flagler who suggested that Hastings start a farm to provide fresh vegetables to Flagler’s hotels. No longer an incorporated town, but still known as “The Potato Capital of Florida,” this farming community produces cabbages, onions, eggplants, and shrubs and flowers — as well as potatoes. Hastings has the dubious distinction of being the only region of St. Johns County which does not border on a large body of water. The venerable building housing the Hastings Potato Growers Association is just 18 miles from the Plaza de la Constitución in St. Augustine.