Adams County, and Hastings in particular, are "children of the railroads," having been founded and sustained by rail companies between the 1870s and 1960s. Hastings owes is very existence to an intersection of two railways, the Burlington and Missouri River and the St. Joseph and Denver City lines. Although most of Hastings is built on former Union Pacific land, Adams County has always been Burlington country.

Known as the Burlington and Missouri River (1871), the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy (1880), the Burlington Northern (1970) and the Burlington - Santa Fe (1995), this railroad built its main line through the country, constructed the most elaborate depot and had a division office here the longest. It was the Burlington which brought the fabled Zephyr to Adams County, and on its road, Nebraska's last commercial passenger trains, via Amtrak, continue to run. When the Burlington Railway Depot was completed in 1902, Hastings was the third largest railroad center in Nebraska. Designed by Omaha architect Thomas R. Kimball, the station is an example of Spanish Colonial Revival architecture. The building, which welcomed presidents Taft, Truman and Eisenhower, is on the National Register of Historic Places.