Shafter Depot Museum

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.