Abandoned Towns
Roofless stone and adobe walls on a brushy slope above a roadside sign reading Shafter Memorial Historical Site and a granite historical marker

Silver mining town

Shafter

A silver-mining town in the Chinati Mountains, on US 67 between Marfa and Presidio. Between 11 and 30 people have lived there in recent decades, and a new owner has started work toward reopening the mine.

29°49′13″N 104°18′12″W · ≈3,890 ft

Photo: Jim Evans, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Small community · 2026 report

Shafter is a small living community on US 67, and the mine property is privately owned. A 2017 Marfa Public Radio report noted a no-trespassing sign at the old mill, and in January 2026 the Big Bend Sentinel reported trucks and workers back at the mine. We found no published visitor rules. View the ruins from the road and public areas, and stay out of the mine property.

Overview

Silver in the Chinati Mountains

Ruins on the slope above the Shafter Memorial Historical Site sign and a historical marker, 2009
Ruins on the slope above the Shafter Memorial Historical Site sign and a historical marker, 2009 · Photo: Jim Evans, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Shafter sits on Cibolo Creek in the Chinati Mountains. John Spencer found silver here around 1880 and brought in Capt. William R. Shafter, then stationed at Fort Davis, as a partner. A California company took over in 1883 as the Presidio Mining Company, and two years later the camp got a post office named for the captain.

The mine ran for nearly sixty years. A cyanide mill went in in 1913, the American Metal Company bought the property in 1926, and by 1940 the Presidio Mine, the largest and longest-running in the district, had recorded about 31 million ounces of silver. That year the town had as many as 4,000 people. Then the company shut the mine, and when the Army posts at Marfa closed after World War II the town emptied.

Since 2000 the census and other counts have found between 11 and about 30 residents. The mine has stirred twice since. Aurcana had it working again by 2012 and closed it in 2013 when the silver price fell. In November 2025 the Australian-listed Black Bear Minerals completed its purchase, and by January 2026 trucks and workers were back at the site.

Timeline

Sixty years of silver

  1. John Spencer finds silver in the Chinati Mountains and works with Capt. William R. Shafter, stationed at Fort Davis, to develop it.
  2. A California group that leased the land in 1882 forms the Presidio Mining Company. The Mina Grande orebody is producing.
  3. A post office opens under the name Shafter.
  4. The mine works about 20,000 tons of ore a year.
  5. A 200-ton cyanide mill is added. Output rises to about 84,000 tons a year through 1926.
  6. The American Metal Company of Texas buys the property.
  7. Low silver prices shut the mine.
  8. The population peaks at as many as 4,000. Recorded output since 1883 reaches about 31 million ounces of silver.
  9. American Metal closes the mine, citing costs, a shortage of miners and an attempt to unionize. Army posts nearby keep about 1,500 people for a time.
  10. Marfa Army Air Field and Fort D. A. Russell close, and the town declines fast.
  11. The Shafter Historic Mining District is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
  12. Aurcana buys the mine in 2008 and has La Mina Grande working again by 2012. It closes the mine in 2013, when silver falls below $20 an ounce.
  13. Black Bear Minerals, an Australian company, completes its purchase of the Shafter silver project.
  14. Trucks and workers are seen at the mine, and the company applies to renew a water quality discharge permit.

What's left

Ruins, church and cemetery

The Shafter cemetery in 2009: white crosses, rock-piled graves and painted tombs below the mountains
The Shafter cemetery in 2009: white crosses, rock-piled graves and painted tombs below the mountains · Photo: Jim Evans, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church behind the Shafter Ghost Town road sign, 2009
Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church behind the Shafter Ghost Town road sign, 2009 · Photo: Plazak, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

Rock and adobe cabins of the miners stand on the slopes around town, with old mining equipment and ruined mine buildings scattered among them. A resident described them in the Big Bend Sentinel in January 2025. The Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church stands in town. The same resident describes a sprawling cemetery of rock-piled graves and weathered wooden crosses on the hill above town.

Shafter is changing. The same 2025 column reports that John Poindexter, who owns the Cibolo Creek Ranch north of town, has been buying property in Shafter and clearing lots. Wikipedia cites a September 2026 Fortune report that foundations tied to him plan a resort and living history museum. Those are plans, not finished projects.

The 1965 USGS sheet in the historic maps below marks the Shafter Mines and the Last Chance Mine, both abandoned, in the hills west of the highway, with ruins beside the road. The 1896 sheet shows the town where several roads meet, with a mine and the Ross Mine to the west.

  • Stone and adobe cabins
  • Mine buildings and mill
  • Sacred Heart of Jesus Church
  • Hillside cemetery
USGS topographic map of Shafter on US 67
USGS The National Map, topo. The Shafter label sits east of Cibolo Creek and the highway; houses line the road to the south, with Brazo Road at lower right.
Aerial view of Shafter: houses and ruins along the highway in desert hills
Aerial imagery, same area. Houses line the highway at lower left. The pale ground to the right is bare, terraced land crossed by tracks.

Historic maps

Shafter on USGS maps, 1896–1993

Crops from the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection, centered on the townsite. Each sheet shows what surveyors mapped that year; compare them with today's topo and aerial on this page.

USGS topographic map around Shafter, 1896
Shafter sheet, 1896, 1:125,000 · U.S. Geological Survey, public domain · catalog record

Map & directions

Getting there

Presidio, on the Rio Grande, is the nearest town, about 20 minutes south on US 67. From El Paso the route follows I-10 to Van Horn and US 90 to Marfa, then US 67 south. An undated listing rates the road 2WD.

USGS map between Presidio and Shafter with the route along US 67 drawn on it

Base map: USGS The National Map (public domain). Routes: OSRM on © OpenStreetMap contributors data (ODbL), computed October 2026. Times assume dry roads.

From central Presidio19.8 miabout 21 min
  1. From central Presidio, take North Erma Avenue and US 67 Business north.0.9 mi
  2. Turn right on US 67 and follow it north to Shafter.18.9 mi
Google Maps directionsApple MapsOpenStreetMap

Road and safety notes

  • The mine and mill are private. Respect fences and no-trespassing signs.
  • Some houses are lived in. Don't walk onto private lots.
  • Summer highs in the region pass 100°F. Carry water.

Photos

Shafter in photos

Visitor reports

Been to Shafter?

Been there lately? Tell the next visitor what you found: whether you could get in, the state of the road and what's still standing. Photos are welcome. We read every report before it appears here.

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Nearby

Other sites near Shafter

Straight-line distance from the townsite to other mapped sites in our Texas index.

Sources

Sources and credits

  1. ghosttowns.com, "Shafter": fact sheet fields (road, climate, best time).
  2. Wikipedia, "Shafter, Texas", retrieved October 2026: discovery, Chinati Mountains and Cibolo Creek, Shafter at Fort Davis, Presidio Mining Company, post office, production, the Presidio as the district's largest mine, closure, Army posts, population, National Register listing, Aurcana by 2012, Fortune report of resort plans.
  3. Black Bear Minerals, "High-grade Shafter Silver Project acquisition completed," ASX announcement, November 21, 2025: completion of the purchase and 100% ownership.
  4. Rob D'Amico, "Surging silver prices spur Shafter mine opening," Big Bend Sentinel, January 22, 2026: Aurcana's 2008 purchase and 2013 closure, trucks and workers at the mine, permit renewal.
  5. Randall Cater, "Memories of 3 decades living in Shafter," Big Bend Sentinel, January 8, 2025: ruins, church, cemetery, Poindexter property purchases.
  6. Elizabeth Trovall, "The Former 'Richest Acre In Texas' Fell Hard," Marfa Public Radio via Texas Standard, October 31, 2017: population of about 30 and the no-trespassing sign at the old mill.
  7. Elevation: USGS 3D Elevation Program point query. Routes: OSRM on OpenStreetMap data, October 2026.

Photo and map credits