Birthplace of Kool-Aid
Hastings, Nebraska
Edwin Perkins didn't move to Hastings until he was 31, didn't invent Kool-Aid until seven years later, and then moved his company to Chicago four years after that. Which is a long way of saying that Kool-Aid's time in Hastings was brief. But it was born here nevertheless, and Hastings deserves recognition for it.
A plaque has been bolted next to the front door of the former Perkins Products Company, telling the Kool-Aid story. We noted that every window in the building, except for one on the second floor, was walled up with cement slabs. Did the early Kool-Aid leave behind a powerful flotsam, like a super-fruity asbestos?
There are many things Kool-Aid to see in Hastings, including the Kool-Aid museum and Kool-Aid Man's footprints in cement. But for those who want to stand really, really close to where soft drink history was made, this is the place.
Also see: Hard and Soft Drink
Birthplace of Kool-Aid
- Address:
- 518 W. 1st St., Hastings, NE [Show Map]
- Directions:
- Downtown. From US 281 turn east onto 7th St. for four blocks, then south on St. Joseph Ave. for six blocks. The plaque is on the north side of 1st St., a half-block west of St. Joseph.
Nearby Offbeat Places
- Kool-Aid: Discover the Dream, Hastings, NE - 1 mi.
- Kool-Aid Man's Footprints in Cement, Hastings, NE - 2 mi.
- Andy the Footless Goose, Hastings, NE - 4 mi.
- In the region: Great Platte River Road Archway Monument, Kearney, NE - 35 mi.
