Shafter Research Station

Shafter Research Station is an agricultural research station in Shafter in the San Joaquin Valley, within Kern County, California.

Shafter Research Station
Nearest cityShafter, California
Coordinates35°31′52″N 119°16′41″W
Area17.5 acres (7.1 ha)
Built1922 (1922)
NRHP reference No.97001211[1]
Added to NRHPOctober 17, 1997
Shafter Cotton Research Station
Shafter Cotton Research Station in 1922
Location17053 Shafter Avenue, Shafter, Kern County, California
Built1922
Official nameShafter Cotton Research Station
DesignatedMarch 3, 1997
Reference no.1022 [2]

The station, which was established in 1922, as Shafter Cotton Research Station,and was used by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to research cotton. Initial research at the station focused on growing long-staple cotton, Egyptian Pima Cotton, which was used to make airplane wings at the time. The US Hatch Act of 1887 provided US funding of agricultural science. The Shafter Cotton Research Station was built to provide California with high quality cotton.


By 1925, the researchers had determined that Acala cotton, named after Acala, Texas, was the highest-quality variety of long-staple cotton; they then developed the "one variety" method of cotton production, in which every California cotton producer would grow Acala cotton. As a result of this research, the state of California enacted the California One Variety Cotton Act, which mandated that California cotton producers could grow only Acala cotton. The law spurred the growth of California's fledgling cotton industry, which now forms a major part of the state's agricultural economy. The success of the "one variety" policy caused the station to earn an international reputation for its research, and procedures developed at the station have been used in the Australian and Israeli cotton industries. Shafter Cotton Research Station change from a USDA Research Station to a private on in June of 2012. The San Joaquin Valley Quality Cotton Growers Association now runs the facility. With this change, the Shafter Cotton Research Station now works other crops including orchard crops. Today the facility a 20-acre campus, 20 buildings and 60 acres of experimental crops.[3][4]

The Shafter Research Station was added to the National Register of Historic Places on October 17, 1997.[1]

  • California State Historical Landmark reads:
NO. 1022 SHAFTER COTTON RESEARCH STATION - The Shafter Cotton Research Station, established here in 1922 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, developed the "Acala" varieties which were exceptionally well suited to the San Joaquin valley. The quality of the acala cottons and the marketing advantage of the one variety cotton district, created in 1925, resulted in premium cottons with a world-wide demand. Through the continued vision and cooperative efforts of growers and researchers, production of acala cotton became one of California's largest agricultural enterprises. [5]

See also

References
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. "hafter Cotton Research Station". Office of Historic Preservation, California State Parks. Retrieved 2012-10-07.
  3. Wilson, Patricia P.; Nina Leigh (November 4, 1996). "National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Shafter Research Station". National Park Service. Retrieved April 20, 2013.
  4. Valley Ag Voice, The Shafter Cotton Research Station: 97 Years of Innovation, December 1, 2020, by Mike McCoy
  5. californiahistoricallandmarks.com # 1022

3. Shafter Research Station Website Background and History Page


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