Buford, Wyoming is the smallest town in America with a population of one. Or maybe it’s zero. And maybe it’s not even Buford at all anymore but PhinDeli Town. Well, whatever it is called and whatever its population, it is a very tiny town that makes for a very short road trip stop.
Buford was founded in 1866 along the First Transcontinental Railroad. At its prime, the bustling town had a population of 2,000, full of railroad workers who needed a convenient place to settle along the tracks. But, as the railway progressed towards the west, the people went with it.
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By 1980 there were seven people living in town, including new resident Don Sammons and his family. Sammons later purchased the town in 1992 and eventually, after his wife died and his son moved away, he was the only person left in town. Buford, Wyoming: population one.
In 2012, twenty years after Sammons bought the town, he put it up on the auction block. It was then that Vietnamese businessman Phạm Đình Nguyen paid $900,000 to purchase the 9.9-acre town. The transaction included the land, the gas station, the convenience store, and a house.
Nguyen re-branded the town as “PhinDeli Town Buford” with a mission of selling his Vietnamese “PhinDeli” brand coffee from the convenience store. However, Nguyen never actually moved into town and only rarely visited. PhinDeli Town: Population zero.
For a time, Albany County native Jason Hirsh managed the property, but he resigned in 2017 and the town has laid abandoned ever since.
Whatever it is called, there isn’t much to see in Buford besides the shuttered convenience store and gas station. The biggest draw, pulling visitors off the highway for selfies, is the town’s sign:
BUFORD WYOMING
EST 1866
NATION’S SMALLET TOWN
ZIP CODE 82052
HIGHWEST TOWN BETWEEN
NYC & SAN FRANCISCO ON I-80
BUFORD
POP 1
ELEV 8000
While taking a Wyoming road trip be sure to also check out the Sinclair Gas Station Dinosaur in Sinclair, Little America Travel Center in Little America, and Gunslinger 66: Tumbleweed Gas Station Town in Laramie.
Buford, Wyoming: The Smallest Town in America
Address: 2 Sammons Ln, Buford, WY 82052
Cost: Free to See
Hours: Always Visible
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