In 2016, we opened the Atlas Obsura book to find a nearby attraction to visit for the day. A little over 2 hours away was Buford, WY, a town with a population of 1 (until 2017). What does a town of one look like we wondered? We made plans to go check it out the next day.
Our first stop was to Buford, WY. We saw the town sign indicating the population of 1. The town was founded in 1866 with the construction of the Transcontinential Railroad. At the town’s peak, there were 2,000 people. With the railroad complete, and not much around, residents started to leave. By the time Don Sammons moved there in 1980, the population was only 7. He lived there with his wife and son for several years before he purchased the 9.9 acre town in 1992. He labeled himself the major and marketed Buford as “the nation’s smallest town” for visitors passing through the area. After his wife died, and his son moved away, he was the only resident. In 2012 he decided to sell the land and move near his son. A Vietnamese man, Pham Dinh Nguyen, purchased the land as a place to market his coffee, PhinDeli Coffee but never lived there. Another local family took over management of the convenience store and gas station until 2017, when they left leaving the town abandoned. In 2017, the town was rebranded as PhilDeli Town Buford. I am not sure if the sign is still there.
To make a full day out of it, we also stopped at the Tree Rock, a small pine tree growing out of a crack in a boulder. This tree has fascinated travelers since the 1860s when they laid the railroad tracks and even later after they moved the railroad several miles and the abandoned train route became a wagon road.
Heading up to Laramie for lunch, on Interstate 80, we stopped at the Summit rest area to see the massive Lincoln head, built by the Wyoming Parks Commission to honor Lincoln’s 150th birthday. The head, weighing over two tons and is 13.5 feet tall, was originally alongside the highest point of the Lincoln highway at Sherman Summit, but was moved here when I-80 was complete. The head is easily visible from the highway because it stands on a stone wall, and the rest area has plenty of parking and a visitor center.
Up in Laramie we stopped for drinks at The Library Sports Grille and Brewery.
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