HASTINGS, Fla. — The sleepy town of Hastings is undergoing a rapid revitalization in its downtown area. 

Decades ago, it was a once-bustling farm town in the southwest part of the county near the St. Johns River.

Then the Main Street became nearly empty. In the last two years, it has experienced a transformation.

‘I’m going to make a happy tea with a little bit of honey,” Chamane Williams said, as she worked behind the counter at the town’s newest coffee shop. She is the owner of Hastings Coffee Company.

“This is a place to bring the community together. A place for people to gather and talk and remember,” she said Thursday.

Two doors down, there is Hastings Nutrition Company.

Kristi Register is the owner. “We opened November 30th and every month has increased in sales,” she said. 

These are some of the newest businesses that have moved onto Main Street in Hastings in the last two years.

They are part of the amazingly fast revitalization of the buildings on Hastings’ Main Street.

“We went from 80 percent vacancy to 90 percent occupancy in the last 2 years,” Jenna Dennis said. She is the chief visionary behind the transformation and the Board of Directors Chair for the non-profit organization Hastings Main Street. 

However the rapid growth even surprised her.

“It’s beyond my wildest dreams,” she told First Coast News. 

Two years ago, she and her husband poured money and time into restoring some of the buildings and encouraged other businesses owners to open up shop on Main Street.  

In the 1980’s a fire gutted the once thriving downtown Hastings, and many businesses did not return. Now, along with the handful of businesses that have been here for years, there are open signs, stocking of inventory, and customers coming in daily

One customer at Hastings Nutrition Co. said, “It’s so nice to come down here and it’s lively and things are going on.”

Talking about the locals who frequent the Hastings Coffee Company, Williams said, “Oh, they have a ball!  The energy is so high here on a Saturday morning.”

While Williams and others took a chance on Hastings, she’s glad she has.

“I’m riding the wave with them. I believe in it too. Hastings deserves this,” Williams beamed. 

This weekend in Hastings,  the Cabbage, Potato, and Bacon festival returns to Main Street – Saturday and Sunday.  Click here to learn more.