Buford, Wyo., population 1, sold for $900,000

Don Sammons is hanging up his hat as mayor, store clerk and mechanic of Buford, Wyoming ? the entire town is up for sale. NBC's Kristen Dahlgren reports.

Christina Caron and Isolde Raftery, msnbc.com writes

Buford, Wyo., population 1, was sold Thursday for $900,000, The Associated Press reported. The buyers were two businessmen from Vietnam who flew in for the auction and whose identities have been so far kept secret.??

Until recently, the town's one resident was Don Sammons, 61, who managed the town's liquor sales, hardware sales, gas pump and hot dog warmer. Sammons moved months ago, and the phone to the Buford Trading Post has been disconnected.

Buford, featured on "Nightly News" last weekend, is on Highway 80 between Cheyenne and Laramie in southeast Wyoming. The town was originally listed at $100,000. The auction house, Williams and Williams, told NBC News that buyers from more than 70 countries expressed interest.

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On the Buford Trading Post website, Sammons explained that he moved to Buford from California with his wife and son in 1980. Several years ago, his wife died, and his son grew up and moved away. Sammons describes himself: "He's a man with his own zip code, his own town, his own gas station and trading post." He encouraged travelers to stop by and say hello.

Buford, Wyoming's second-oldest town, was established in 1866. Years ago, it was a railway town of 2,000 that hosted both the famous and infamous -- Presidents Ulysses S. Grant and Franklin D. Roosevelt and outlaw Butch Cassidy. But when the railroad faded away, so did the residents.

Sold on Thursday were five buildings, U.S. Post Office boxes, a leased Union Wireless cellular tower, 10 acres of land and "a parking area previously used by an overnight shipping company for nighttime trailer switches." In its listing, the auction house noted that up to 1,000 customers drive through the tiny town during peak summer months.

NBC News' Kristen Dahlgren contributed to this report.

NBC's Lee Cowan heads to the Cowboy State to visit the lone citizen of a tiny town that the railroad left behind.

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