If you’ve ever dreamed of owning a town, now’s your chance. The historic town of Story, Indiana – population, three people — is up for sale for $3.8 million.
The small town an hour south of Indianapolis includes 17.4 acres, a general store, fenced horse pastures, a grain mill, barns and rental cabins. For the past 20 years, the town belonged to lawyer Rick Hofstetter, who has decided to put the rest of the town on the market to focus on running his bed-and-breakfast.
“It’s not every day someone gets to buy a town,” Hofstetter told news station WTHR. “I’ve had that experience. Now I want to live long enough to sell a town.”
Story, which first became a town through a government land grant in 1851, has always been a rural and isolated community. At its height, 175 residents lived in it before the Great Depression saw most leave to look for better job opportunities. Right now, only three residents and four dogs call Story home.
The town, which has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places, promises visitors “the best preserved example of a 19th Century village that survives in the American Midwest.”
Courtesy of F.C. Tucker Bloomington Realtors
The listing, which is being overseen by F.C. Tucker Bloomington Realtors, is posted just like any other property for sale.
“Over time the community became a village, anchored by the general store and grist mill, and expanded to include a saw mill, slaughterhouse, and blacksmith shop,” it reads.