... the townships of Sidney, Thurlow, the tract of land occupied by the Mohawks, Huntingdon, Hungerford, and Rawdon, do constitute and form the county of Hastings.

Prominent citizens of Hastings County and Ameliasburgh Township unsuccessfully petitioned the provincial government for district status during 1817, 1818, 1823 and 1825.

[10] By 1845, the county was declared to consist of the following geographic townships:[11] Belleville, after an abortive attempt two years previously, was organized as a municipality with its own Board of Police in 1836,[12][13] and was designated as the district seat in 1837.

In August 1866, discovery of gold at Eldorado, near Madoc, caused great excitement throughout Hastings County as people flooded to the area from all over North America.

"[17] The railroads and 170 miles (270 km) of good gravel roads opened these areas to settlement by 1880.

[18] By 1927 the original townships had each formed separate governance and many of them had been partitioned due to increase in population and development.

The 1927 townships were:[19] Following World War II, more efficient communication and transportation led a trend toward consolidation of township administrations: At the dawn of the 21st century, there has been a trend toward amalgamating rural and urban administrations.

On 1 January 2001, the Municipality of Hastings Highlands was incorporated by amalgamating the contiguous townships of Bangor, Wicklow & McClure, Herschel and Monteagle.