Buford, Wyoming: Population 0

In the late 19th century, 2000 people lived in Buford, Wyoming. Railroad workers needed somewhere to settle, and the small town wasn’t half bad in terms of pop-up cities in the barren West. But as the railroad progressed toward the Pacific, the workers moved with it, leaving Buford to slowly decline into almost-nothingness.

Today, the mountain town of Buford no longer has any residents. Hundreds of people everyday pass through the town on Interstate 80 but only one man, Don Sammons, holds down the fort. Sammons operates the Buford Trading Post, and has been alone since 2008 when his son moved away. Despite its tiny size, it has become somewhat of a roadside attraction for its street sign that states quite plainly: Elevation 8000, Population 1.

Update as of September 2023: The population sign has been removed, but the brown sign proclaiming Buford “the nation’s smallest town” still remains.