Located in north central Andrews County, the town developed as part of the early 20th-century land boom in West Texas.

Bustin, convinced the firm Pierce and Powers to found a town on the north shore of a shallow alkali playa lake lying fifty feet below the elevation of the surrounding land.

[2] Scarcely a month after the town was platted, wagon trains of freight could be observed leaving for Lubbock.

The year of the town's founding saw the opening of the Shafter Lake post office; its first postmaster was Bert M. Irwin.

[2] An intertown feud developed between Shafter Lake and nearby Andrews for the title of county seat.

Its twelve graves and one original building are all that remain of a once bustling West Texas boom town.