# Town for Sale
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/town-for-sale/739594
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [December 6, 2015, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/town-for-sale/739594 "2015-12-06T03:38:47Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabin_Fever_1)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2015, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/town-for-sale/739594/1 "2015-12-06T03:38:47Z")
Have a spare $250,000 laying around?
The entire town of [Swett, South Dakota](http://www.reuters.com/article/us-south-dakota-town-idUSKBN0TK2ZB20151201#bCOExc9vDgB2LzHJ.97) is up for grabs.
This will include the tavern, a 3 bedroom house and an unused tire shop.
Thrown in for free is a brand spanking new town sign, courtesy of the state of South Dakota - as the previous one had too many bullet holes in it.
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### Author:  [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2015, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/town-for-sale/739594/2 "2015-12-06T05:38:40Z")
That doesn’t sound like a good deal to me. The whole town is supposedly just 6 acres which is just chump change in upper Midwestern acreage terms. The buildings may be worth something but not $250,000. That area has remained isolated over the decades for a reason.
There are ghost towns that come up for sale fairly frequently and many of them are much bigger physically. I am not sure why a person would want one but it could be a cool way for a wealthy hermit to live out their own Twilight Zone episodes.
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### Author:  [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2015, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/town-for-sale/739594/3 "2015-12-06T12:49:53Z")
Gee, if I bought it, could I rename it FairyChatVille? And would the state give me a new sign with the new name? If so, I might be interested…
😃
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### Author:  [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2015, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/town-for-sale/739594/4 "2015-12-06T14:13:56Z")
Now, if you were going to buy the town, you would become mayor, right? Which means you’d be responsible for economic development, right? So, if you can’t get any oil mines or diamond wells, you’d need the next best thing: a tourist attraction!
So I am proposing…
wait for it…
A theme park! FairyChatVille would be a cutting-edge meld of social media and traditional story-telling. The various buildings would be dressed to match different stories and ages, and guests could communicate from one to another, ensuring all sorts of wacky hijinks!
Be our guest,
Be our guest,
Put your wallet to the test,
When it comes to making money
FairyChatVille is the best…
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### Author:  [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2015, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/town-for-sale/739594/5 "2015-12-06T14:15:43Z")
How many dopers could we fit on 6 acres?
I bet we could come up with some fun names actually. SD, SD.
Straight Dope, South Dakota.
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### Author:  [@CT\_Damsel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CT_Damsel)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2015, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/town-for-sale/739594/6 "2015-12-06T14:20:31Z")
I will buy it if they will put the old bullet ridden sign back:D
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### Author:  [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2015, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/town-for-sale/739594/7 "2015-12-06T14:31:00Z")
> [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](#):
>
> How many dopers could we fit on 6 acres?
Depends on how high you’re willing to stack them.
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### Author:  [@CT\_Damsel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CT_Damsel)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2015, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/town-for-sale/739594/8 "2015-12-06T14:34:12Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#):
>
> Depends on how high you’re willing to stack them.
Thank you for my first and possibly only belly laugh of the day:D
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### Author:  [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2015, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/town-for-sale/739594/9 "2015-12-06T14:39:05Z")
Just put a sign over the tire store saying “Bates Motel”. Then wait. Soon enough some meth-cookers will show up to give you the freak show you want.
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### Author:  [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2015, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/town-for-sale/739594/10 "2015-12-06T14:39:59Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#):
>
> Depends on how high you’re willing to stack them.
Okay, but I’ve always preferred to be on top.
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### Author:  [@Mudshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mudshark)
#### Post date: [December 7, 2015, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/town-for-sale/739594/11 "2015-12-07T02:43:17Z")
If you purchased this town, you could turn it in to your own personal Valkanvania.
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### Author:  [@Honey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honey)
#### Post date: [December 7, 2015, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/town-for-sale/739594/12 "2015-12-07T02:55:16Z")
> [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](#):
>
> How many dopers could we fit on 6 acres?
>
> I bet we could come up with some fun names actually. SD, SD.
>
> Straight Dope, South Dakota.
Doper commune! 🆒
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### Author:  [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)
#### Post date: [December 7, 2015, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/town-for-sale/739594/13 "2015-12-07T03:52:54Z")
> [@Honey](#):
>
> Doper commune! 🆒
You misspelled ‘compound’. 🙂
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### Author:  [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)
#### Post date: [December 7, 2015, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/town-for-sale/739594/14 "2015-12-07T04:05:23Z")
> [@Sunspace](#):
>
> Now, if you were going to buy the town, you would become mayor, right?
depends on if it’s incorporated and has a charter.
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### Author:  [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)
#### Post date: [December 9, 2015, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/town-for-sale/739594/15 "2015-12-09T01:47:08Z")
I wonder if that tire shop has any of the equipment left. That would be Sweet!
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### Author:  [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)
#### Post date: [December 9, 2015, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/town-for-sale/739594/16 "2015-12-09T04:02:08Z")
Do I get my very own member of the South Dakotan legislature?
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### Author:  [@Vaevictis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vaevictis)
#### Post date: [December 9, 2015, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/town-for-sale/739594/17 "2015-12-09T04:35:48Z")
Mods change this to marketplace please.
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### Author:  [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)
#### Post date: [December 9, 2015, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/town-for-sale/739594/18 "2015-12-09T05:56:20Z")
South Dakota is like that. My relatives who live there can point to an empty field and say how a town complete with businesses and a post office once sat there.
Incidentally South Dakotas last one room schoolhouse closed in 2010.
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### Author:  [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)
#### Post date: [December 9, 2015, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/town-for-sale/739594/19 "2015-12-09T17:00:05Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#):
>
> Incidentally South Dakotas last one room schoolhouse closed in 2010.
You are very, very [wrong](http://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/principal-says-one-room-schoolhouse-here-to-stay/article_6818ba26-0d63-5994-a376-243108602eb3.html).
There was another South Dakota [town](http://www.forbes.com/sites/clareoconnor/2011/08/19/sold-799000-south-dakota-town-finds-a-buyer/) that sold in 2011.
Frankly, I’d hesitate to buy any property in that area of the state.
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### Author:  [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)
#### Post date: [December 9, 2015, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/town-for-sale/739594/20 "2015-12-09T17:34:41Z")
> [@MEBuckner](#):
>
> Do I get my very own member of the South Dakotan legislature?
Like most states, South Dakota legislators represent districts. Swett is part of district 27 which covers a very large area of south central South Dakota. It currently has two representatives and one senator.
[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/town-for-sale/739594.md?page=2)