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2012-03-14 09:20:08
By Eric Pfeiffer | The Sideshow
Lone Buford, Wyo., resident Don Sammons (AP/Michael Smith)
If you've got a spare $100,000, you could potentially become the owner of a
small Wyoming town that's set to be auctioned off next month by its sole
resident.
After more than 30 years of residing in the unincorporated community, town
"mayor" Don Sammons says it's finally time to move on.
"Don, 'The Mayor', is retiring after 20 wonderful years in his town," Sammons
writes on the website for his business, the Buford Trading Post, a gas station
and store. "This entire, income producing, town is for sale; the house, the
Trading Post, the former school house, along with all the history of this very
unique place."
Buford, located between Cheyenne and Laramie, was first founded in the 1860s
and was once home to an estimated 2,000 residents before the Transcontinental
Railroad was rerouted.
Sammons moved to Buford with his family in 1980. In 1992, he bought the Buford
Trading Post and has continued to preside as Buford's unofficial "mayor." Over
the years, members of Sammons' family gradually moved away until he was finally
left as the only resident.
"It was a great life for me and for my family," Sammons, 60, told the Wyoming
Tribune Eagle, adding that selling it on his own wouldn't do the town justice.
"I needed to find someone who is an expert in selling unique and one-of-a-kind
items." Buford, Wyoming's second-oldest town, was named after a Civil War
general.
Along with the above-mentioned items, whoever purchases Buford will also become
proprietor of his or her very own ZIP code, 82052.
And while Sammons is Buford's sole resident, he's hardly alone out there.
Sammons says the trading post is visited by roughly 1,000 customers per day.
A local advertisement for the forthcoming auction, hosted by Oklahoma-based
Williams and Williams, describes the sale as follows:
"Unique opportunity to acquire an entire town, along with the Buford Trading
post, an income-producing convenience and fuel store. Included in the auction
are 10+/- acres of land, five buildings including a 3 bedroom home, United
States post office boxes, plow and three vehicles. There is also a Union
Wireless cellular tower with lease, and parking area previously used by an
overnight shipping company for nighttime trailer switches."
"We're going to have a variety of people attracted to this property, based on
what it would mean to them," Williams and Williams' Chief Marketing Officer Amy
Bates told the Eagle.