SHAFTER LAKE, TEXAS
The town site is located just down from
the Frankel City site on FM 1967
  
Shafter Lake
Shafter Lake
Community & Cemetery
The town
of Shafter Lake was on the shores of Shafter Lake, four miles
west of  U.S. Highway 385
in north central Andrews County. It developed as part of a turn-of-the-century
boom in West Texas. J. F. BUSTIN, a local entrepreneur, persuaded
the firm of Pierce and Powers to establish a village on the north
shore of a shallow alkali lake lying fifty feet below the elevation
of the surrounding countryside. Originally the town was named
Salt Lake. Later the town and lake were named after William R.
SHAFTER, an army officer who had discovered the lake in 1875.
The most active
supporter of Shafter Lake was James T. CUMLEY, editor of the Shafter Lake Herald.
His editorials sparkled with praise for the community. He spoke
highly of the area's rich soil, the recreation potential of the
lake, and the kind words that visitors had for the village. He
sent thousands of copies of the Herald across the country,
particularly to the Midwest.
Shafter Lake
was platted in August 1907 and was a busy town by early September.
Wagon trains of freight could be seen leaving for Lubbock, while
others hauling lumber for new homes were pulling in from Midland.
Still others,  some
comprising several wagons hitched together and pulled by sixteen
mules, rested a day or two before heading south. Within another
couple of months, over fifty homes dotted the townsite, a city
school was ready to open, and newcomers scurried about trying
to get settled. A post office was also established in 1907, and
in 1908 a community cemetery was begun on the opposite side of
the lake. In 1907 there was talk of the Llano Estacado, Mexico,
and Gulf Railroad coming through town. Surveyors came to Shafter
Lake, and the line was scheduled for completion in 1909, but
only one mile was ever graded.
Shafter Lake
reached the peak of its growth in 1910, when it had a population
of  500, a bank, three
churches, a rock schoolhouse, a general store, a blacksmith's
shop, and two hotels. In 1910 a feud developed between Shafter
Lake and the nearby town of Andrews as both vied to become the
Andrews County seat. An election was held in June, marked by
controversy over the efforts of both towns to acquire eligible
voters, and Shafter Lake lost by a narrow margin, after which
it rapidly declined. Two years later most of the townspeople
had moved to Andrews. By the 1980s only a  dilapidated cemetery of twelve known graves and one
original building indicated the existence of a once booming community.
The descendants of the first postmaster, Bert M. IRWIN, still
had a ranching operation at the old townsite. BIBLIOGRAPHY: T. Lindsay Baker, Ghost Towns of
Texas (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1986). Paul
H. Carlson and Michael Stark, "The Llano Estacado, Mexico
and Gulf: West Texas' Phantom Railroad," Texas Permian
Historical Annual 15 (1975). Paul H. Carlson and Michael
Stark, "Shafter Lake, Boom Town Bust," Southwest
Heritage, Winter 1974-75. Paul H. Carlson |
