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Shafter, Nevada

Coordinates: 40°51′17″N 114°26′41″W / 40.85472°N 114.44472°W / 40.85472; -114.44472
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Shafter, Nevada
Shafter is located in Nevada
Shafter
Shafter
Location within the state of Nevada
Shafter is located in the United States
Shafter
Shafter
Shafter (the United States)
Coordinates: 40°51′17″N 114°26′41″W / 40.85472°N 114.44472°W / 40.85472; -114.44472
CountryUnited States
StateNevada
CountyElko
Elevation
5,594 ft (1,705 m)
Time zoneUTC-8 (Pacific (PST))
 • Summer (DST)UTC-7 (PDT)
GNIS feature ID847479[1]

Shafter is a ghost town in Elko County, Nevada, United States.

History

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Shafter was founded in 1906 as a siding for the Nevada Northern Railway. Before being called Shafter, it was known as Bews. It was renamed Shafter in 1907, when the Western Pacific Railroad's Feather River Route arrived. The community was named after William Rufus Shafter, a prominent U.S. officer during the Spanish–American War.[2] Around 40 inhabitants lived there. The town had a school, which closed in 1932, and a post office, which shut in 1959, signalling the death of the town. Today, only foundations of buildings remain.[3] Although the town is abandoned, this particular section of the railroad is still called the Shafter Subdivision.

Notes

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  1. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Shafter, Nevada
  2. ^ Federal Writers' Project (1941). Origin of Place Names: Nevada (PDF). W.P.A. p. 28.
  3. ^ "Shafter". ghosttowns.com. Retrieved March 6, 2013.