Post Hastings

 

 

Many people in Amherst and beyond still miss Hastings, which closed in the summer of 2022. 

The place was famous for never having closed for even a single day since it opened in 1914. Even during the worst weather and two world wars it was always open for at least a few hours to keep its sacred record of never ever closing intact. 

Unforgivably, the wimpy final owners of the store shut it down for weeks during the covid farce. They did this despite the fact that the joint had stayed open every single day of the far worse pandemic of 1918. 

Well, at least now the space is no longer vacant as Amherst College has taken it over and turned it into a place for their college merch. 

The inside has been radically remodeled, with no trace remaining of it's original appearance. 

However, according to this cartoon in The Amherst Student, an option does exist for those old timers who yearn for the original store.

 

 

Nothing lasts.

 

Pretty purple flowers by the UMass pond. 

 

 

Deposed UMass mascot Chief Metawampe has been holding a bouquet of roses ever since someone gifted him with them on Graduation Day. 

 

A UMass flashback. 

 

 

Dig this psychedelic car parked in Northampton by Pulaski Park. Some interesting things go on in that park if you know what you're looking at.

 

 Dig this mid-80's photo of the late lamented bar Sheehan's on Pleasant Street. 

 

 

Along with Fire and Water, Rahar's, Baystate and The Green Street Cafe, Sheehan's was definitely one of the premiere hangouts of downtown Northampton's golden age of roughly 1985 to 2005. Alas, downtown Hamp has since undergone a slow decline. While in many ways the town is still hoppin' it ain't what it used to be.