Hastings Museum

For a small town museum (I know . . . . Hastings is a big town in this part of Nebraska . . . . I'm from here.) the Hastings Museum has it all, and done well. There's something new to see around every corner. We'll, the same stuff I saw as a kid but arranged in new and exciting ways. I didn't have time for an IMAX show this time (Yes, I know it's not really an IMAX anymore), but we did catch the planetarium show. A few exhibits, such as Kool Aid, need some attention and improvement, and I was very disappointed that the Coin collection vault was not open. Hopefully it's still in there. It would be a travesty if they got rid of it for some reason. At least my favorite thing as a kid was still there - the rattlesnake that rattles when you push a button. If you're free Hastings, lucky you! If you're passing through, it's a definite "must visit."

Excellent museum, packed with interesting exhibits. Even old museum standbys get an interesting update.Gift shop is shockingly cheap, and full of great souvenirs and books. Its easy to spend at least a couple hours here, plus they have interactive planetarium shows and seasonal events.Definitely worth the admission fee!

It is absolutely stunning I love the bird exhibit because I am a bird guy myself but all the examples and stuff are so beautiful.

I loved this quiet museum. We visited on a Tuesday morning. I learned a ton about animals through the taxidermy dioramas. I don't think you need to torture live animals in zoos when you can visit long dead ones set up in their little habitat boxes here. Unlike other reviewers I think the taxidermy is a far more humane way to learn. I thought the kool-aid exhibit was weird but I'm just not that into kool-aid history. My favorite part of the Hastings was the Native American history and artifacts. There was more info here than many of the other museums I've visited along the 80. On the ground floor hallway (unfortunately to the bathroom) there are beautiful portraits and stories of Native American leaders that are very much worth reading. I highly recommend this spot if you enjoy reading plaques accompanied by well curated visuals.

Even though I grew up in the area I never visited the this museum. I found it very informative, the displays were very well taken care of, the staff was pleasant and the exhibit on Kool-Aid was unique. I knew that Kool-Aid was invented in Nebraska and I drank a lot of it as a kid so it was really nice to see that pointed out in an artistic way. The only downside was that the planetarium was only open Wednesday through Saturday and I was there on a Tuesday.

PROS - fantastic Kool Aid exhibit, interesting nature-related details in all areas of museum, some updated areas, clean restrooms, polite staff, great small collection of antique cars, very informative gun/military section, planetarium show(s) included with admission.CONS - way too much taxidermy, dated technology information, dead rodent smell in some areas, thrown-together colonial and Native American exhibit, a lot of wasted space.I would definitely come back again, and I enjoyed my visit...but it bears saying that this museum is a mix of the good and not so good. If you're a huge animal lover, do be prepared for long-dead stuffed creatures to be the very first thing you'll see when you enter. They have a lot of them and some of it's a little upsetting, especially out of context. Others describe mixed feelings about Hastings Museum and I agree completely.

I first heard about the Hastings museum from a brochure at the Grand Island KOA.We were passing through on our way to Minnesota from the San Francisco area and thought it would be a fun diversion. I am a big natural history enthusiast and American History nut. I didn't know what to expect in the middle of Nebraska. I saw a picture of a life-sized model of a Tylosaurus and thought if nothing else that was worth the 32 mile round trip to and from Interstate 80. I set my alarm clock to wake up bright and early the next day.We ate a breakfast across the street from the museum at a Burger King. At the opposite corner from the Burger King was a gas station and at the fourth corner was an Elementary School. I thought it an odd place for a museum and it looked very small. Honestly I was not expecting much. We entered the museum and paid the admission fee- $8. We entered the main hall and the lighting and Tylosaurus was astounding. The scale and being alone with the massive beast was an intense experience even if it was a reproduction. Then I looked to my astonishment dioramas with taxidermied animals and my mind was blown. I had never seen a taxidermy display on this scale. At the California Academy of Science in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park there is the African Hall but although this was only North American animals it dwarfed the Academy's display.Two floors of animals from across North America. The Great Plains, Northeast, Rocky Mountains, Great Lakes, Great Plains, California Coast, Alaskan Coast, Arctic Alaska. The dioramas themselves were so detailed it was like being sucked into another world through the display. I learned so much from the displays and the information on each animal. This was just the beginning.They had an entire exhibit on the Civil War! Artifacts and clothing from the time period itself and a few reproductions. An entire floor on Nebraska history as well with displays ranging from the Oregon Trail and pioneer days to the advent of the radio and television age. The attention to detail was very amazing. It would be an awesome experience to be a teacher and bring my class from the school across the street.Then it was the upper level of natural history. Animals that were native to just Nebraska. I never knew Nebraska was so naturally diverse. To top it off we toured the Kool Aid exhibit.I enjoyed the interactive display of Kool Aid commericals and the artifacts of Mr. Perkins. For a brief moment I was at the center of the Kool Aid world. I know that sounds weird. Truly an American legend that we can all look up to.I admit it probably helped me appreciate the immense detail in the quiet environment but even if their had been a hundred people there I would have enjoyed it. Being on a weekday morning in late August there were only ten people in the entire musueum if that. What people were there were few and far between. In the end during nearly four days of being in Nebraska Hastings Museum was the best attraction I had seen with the Nebraska State Capitol being a close second. If somehow I ended up living in Nebraska I would make it a point to work at this museum. I don't care if we had to go 100 miles out of our way on I-80 I still would return to this museum. The best history/ natural history museum I have seen in years.

The best thing about Hastings is the Koolaid creation! The museum had generic exhibits but the best one was the Koolaid exhibit.

We were drawn to this location based on all the Kool-Aid stuff, but it still held its own with the antique vehicles downstairs. It's clearly a small town museum that's working on a shoe-string budget (most if not all the animal displays are stuffed hunting trophies that appear to have been donated by a local big-wig...cool, but a little weird.) The Kool-Aid displays were awesome and we had fun learning about its origins and walking memory lane with all the advertisement gimmicks. Bottomline: is it worth a 2.5 hour drive from Omaha for the 45 min to an hour display? Maybe not, but if you're driving past Hastings on I-80, make the detour, it's fun to stay you've been there.

Love this! I came in from Alaska with my family, and it was amazing. Koolaid is my favorite drink and loved learning about it. The smell in the Koolaid exhibit was awesome.