Historical Marker
Shafter Lake Townsite
Andrews, Andrews County · Texas
Erected 1965
The town was a promotion. J. F. Bustin persuaded the firm of Pierce and Powers to lay out a village beside the alkali lake, first named Salt Lake. James T. Cumley, editor of the Shafter Lake Herald, mailed thousands of copies across the country, especially to the Midwest, praising the soil and the lake. Freight wagons soon rolled out to Lubbock and lumber came in from Midland, some trains pulled by sixteen mules. A railroad was surveyed, but only one mile was graded. At its 1910 peak the town had 500 people, a bank, three churches and two hotels.
What the plaque says
Shafter Lake Townsite First town in yet-unorganized Andrews County. Platted 1908. Named for lake charted in 1875 survey of Col. Wm. R. Shafter, whose maps and victories over powerful Indians opened the Permian Basin to settlement. Water trough built by John Underwood of Shafter Lake Sand and Gravel is on site then set aside for a courthouse. It was stopping place for ranchers and freighters on way from Jal and Monument, N. Mex., into Texas. Town started to grow around trough. But when vote in 1910 county organization gave county seat to Andrews, town moved there. (1965)
Where it stands
32.40318, -102.68513 · Directions
More markers nearby
- Shafter Lake Cemetery — 2.6 mi
- Andrews County Discovery Well — 5.1 mi
- Frankel City — 6.1 mi
- Whalen Lake School — 7.5 mi