Shafter, Calif. in Kern County

SHAFTER DEPOT MUSEUM Shafter Historical Society P.O. Box 1088 Shafter, Ca 93263 Shafter Depot Museum is located at 150 Central Valley Highway (State Highway 43) in Shafter, California. Regular hours are 10:00am - 2:00 pm every Saturday. Tours are available at other times by appointment.   

The museum contains railroad, agriculture, and local history exhibits. Depot Museum Exhibits Agents Office General Shafter More The Depot contains many other interesting exhibits of community interest. The agent's office contains all the equipment needed to run a small town railroad agency during the heyday of railroading. Original timetables, tickets and the ticket dater used by the agent are found here. Freight waybills and tariffs from the era are on display. Hoops used to hand up orders to passing trains hang from the walls waiting their next call to duty. There is a working telegraph where visitors can try their hand at telegraphy. In the next room a baggage wagon carries antique trunks ready for loading on the next train out. The City of Shafter is named for General William Rufus "Pecos Bill" Shafter, commanding general of American forces in Cuba during the Spanish-American War in 1898. This was the year the railroad was completed in this area and a siding was named in his honor. The Kern County Land Company sold lots for the town of Shafter at this site in 1914. General Shafter began his military career with the Seventh Michigan Volunteer Infantry during the Civil War. He retired from the army in 1901 and lived on his ranch in southwest Kern County until his death in 1906. Some of General Shafter's personal effects are on display. Mel Vaux Pump House Annabel Thompson Rooms The Pump House contains lowemission Bourke Engine built in 1955 by Mel Vaux. See this unique opposed cylinder one-stoke engine which is coupled to an irrigation pump of the same vintage. The building also contains water and irrigation exhibits. The parlor in the living quarters of the Depot is furnished to reflect the 1940's era and is named after Annabel Thompson, a piano teacher and early resident of Shafter. The kitchen is furnished to reflect the early twentieth century period when the Depot building was built. Harlin P. Wilson Agricultural Museum Adjacent to the Shafter Depot Museum is a big red barn with exhibits pertaining to our agriculture heritage; two crops became dominant in the area cotton and potatoes. Cotton – The USDA Cotton Research Station was established 2 miles North of Shafter in 1917. This station is now operated by the University of California and continues to be the center for cotton research in the San Joaquin Valley. Until recently cotton was the primary crop for Shafter farmers. On display is early USDA cotton research equipment and cotton equipment, from the age of the cotton picking sack to a red one row cotton picker. Potatoes – Shafter's sandy loam soil was excellent for growing early spring potatoes and the potato variety of choice, the Shafter Long White, became known throughout the country. By the 1940's Shafter had 23 potato sheds shipping hundreds of rail cars daily during harvest season. The museum attempts to capture the flavor of that era with a 1937 potato packing shed exhibit and potato field machinery. An ice refrigerator rail car used to ship potatoes also contains exhibits that tell the potato story as well as a 1956 documentary film showing potato harvest and shipment by rail to market. Blacksmith – The Shafter Blacksmith Shop, later Nikkel Iron Works, opened in 1923. Blacksmith shops were essential to a farming community to keep equipment repaired and operating. The original equipment from the shop has been installed in the museum in a recreated blacksmith shop of the era. Green Hotel The Green Hotel is located in downtown Shafter near the corner of Central Avenue and James Street, and is fully restored. The Hotel is open by invitation throughout the year. Tours may be arranged by appointment. For details, call 661-746-1913. The Green Hotel was built in 1913 by the Kern County Land Company to provide lodging for prospective buyers of the new town's lots. It is the oldest commercial building in Shafter. The Hotel is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and is a California Point of Interest.