Don Hastings

The American Bladesmith Society, incorporated in 1976, set a test for its mastersmith rating, and Hastings earned one of the first in 1981. The applicant forges a Damascus blade of at least 300 layers, then cuts a free-hanging rope, chops through two 2x4s, shaves hair with the edge and flexes the knife 90 degrees in a vise without breaking or loosening the handle. Five knives go before judges. The society and Texarkana College opened a bladesmithing school at Washington, Arkansas, in 1988. Hastings was in the Hall of Fame's first class in 1996, ten years after his death.

What the plaque says

Don Hastings Donald Ray Hastings, born in 1936 in Palestine, was the son of William Benjamin and Grace (Jenkins) Hastings. He attended local schools and graduated from Palestine High School in 1954. The previous year, the local theater screened "The Iron Mistress," starring Alan Ladd as James Bowie; the movie sparked local and national interest in the nearly forgotten art of forging steel to build knife blades. Students in the high school's industrial arts classes used their metalworking skills to build replica bowie knives. For Hastings, it was the beginning of a lifelong pursuit of learning and teaching the ancient craft of knife making. Hastings first made knives by the stock removal method, using files and grinders to shape a flat piece of steel. He displayed his handiwork at arts and crafts festivals around Texas. In 1972, he met Bill Moran, president of the Knifemakers' Guild, who at a guild show unveiled his knives created with damascus steel, a centuries-old process using a blacksmith's forge, hammer and anvil. At the time, only a few people in the world utilized this method. Hastings became a master of the damascus technique and mentored other craftsmen. In 1976, Moran, Hastings and others formed the American Bladesmith Society (ABS) to bestow on members the titles of journeyman and mastersmith; Hastings achieved mastersmith level in 1981. He helped to form a bladesmithing school in Washington, Arkansas, where James Black developed the bowie knife in the 1820s. He also opened a knifemaking shop on Avenue A in Palestine in 1980. Hastings died in 1986, and after his death, his knife shop continued as Hastings-Parrish knife works. In 1996, Black, Bowie and Hastings were inducted in the first class of the ABS hall of fame. Today, Hastings knives are admired among collectors, and more than 1,500 ABS members continue to make knives by historic techniques. (2011)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Texas State Railroad Excursion Train — 3.9 mi
  A round trip of about 25 miles of track between the Palestine and Rusk depots through the Piney Woods, on a line built by prison labor and reopened as a tourist railroad in 1976.

More markers nearby

• First Christian Church — steps away
• Palestine Fire Department — steps away
• Anderson County — steps away
• Col. Homer Garrison, Jr. — steps away