Ghost Town Where The Andromeda Strain was Filmed

Shafter, Texas

A well-known movie director named Robert Wise (The Sound of Music, The Day The Earth Stood Still, Run Silent, Run Deep), and a then-unknown writer named Michael Crichton, combined to create a unique sci-fi film in 1971 titled The Andromeda Strain. It opened in the fictional town of Piedmont, New Mexico, where a military satellite had returned from space and mysteriously killed nearly everyone in town.

The filmmakers wanted a near-ghost town to film the outdoor scenes. They found Shafter, Texas, with a then-current population of 20. Although just off a major US highway, Shafter has even fewer residents now than it did in 1971. But the buildings in the film are still there -- particularly the town church -- and they look pretty much the same.