During the late 1800s, downtown Hastings served the growing river city with a wide range of goods and services and developed into a visually striking commercial district of fine brick and stone buildings. In 1865, it contained more than 80 businesses selling goods from hats, boots, groceries, hardware, and jewelry to agricultural implements, while physicians, dentists, and lawyers worked alongside hotels and saloons. Some upper floors provided convenient and affordable housing. The district's narrow buildings, common walls, and small lots reflected dense pre-automobile development that allowed most people to shop on foot. Between 1914 and 1928, the St. Paul Southern Electric Railway Company provided interurban transportation from downtown Hastings to St. Paul. In 1977, the area was listed in the National Register of Historic Places as the East 2nd Street Commercial Historic District and was also designated a local historic district. In the early 1980s, after more than 100 years of use and major changes in the wider world, Hastings launched a public-private effort with local businesses to revive Main Street by promoting downtown goods and services and offering low-interest loans to rehabilitate historic buildings. After store owners had modernized many storefronts in the 1950s and 60s to compete with suburban shopping centers, the district's historic character became a marketing asset in the 1980s, and unattractive changes began to be removed, including at 118 East 2nd Street, where a metal facade was taken off and a second-story bay window was reconstructed.