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A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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Welcome to Shafter ...

Shafter is located in Fayette County<1>.

While we don't have a date for the founding of Shafter, you might consider that their post office opened in 1899.

Shafter is 560 feet [171 m] above sea level.<2>.

Time Zone: Shafter lies in the Central Time Zone (CST/CDT) and observes daylight saving time

Communities Also Named Shafter ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 6 communities that are also named Shafter - they are located in California (2), Kentucky, Missouri, Nevada and Texas.

For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Shafter.

Communities near Shafter ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Shafter.

  • Vandalia
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Greenville
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Hillsboro
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
  • Saint Elmo
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
  • Ramsey
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Witt
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Witt is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Witt
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 833 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Witt <3>
  • Brownstown
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
  • Taylor Springs
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
  • Coffeen
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Mulberry Grove
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Shafter. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Shafter.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Shafter. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Shafter.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Shafter. See our Newspapers Page for Shafter.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Shafter ...

Looking for more information about Shafter? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

While we are unaware of a Tourism page that is specific to Shafter, there are neighboring communities that do have Tourism pages. A map of those communities can be found with our TripAdvisor Page for Shafter.

Adding Shafter to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Shafter in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found (so far) for Shafter was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<4>

From that list, the Shafter post office opened in 1899. The Shafter post office closed in 1901.

For more details, see References and Mentions for Shafter.

Footnotes ...

<1>If you're interested in how the shape of Illinois' counties, including Fayette, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
<2>The elevation is an estimate for the area around Shafter - it will be higher in some places and lower in others.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<4>A copy of the Blevins & Helbock Post Office list with background information can be found at:

      https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/