i was sitting on a barstool last week at a bar in bastrop, texas. i was asking some fellas if there were any ghost towns near by and after a short while the conversation finally came around to someone mentioning mcmahan, texas. it’s a tiny town that’s been all but abandoned. it’s been around for about a hundred years. the population peaked in the 1960s at 250 people and it’s been on a steady decline ever since. a local rancher started buying buildings as they became available in hopes of preserving the town. he’s now the owner of what’s left of the town and he’s trying to sell it.something about this whole story struck a nerve so i decide to drive out to see it for myself.
after spending about an hour chatting with a fella that runs the local BBQ
joint i started thinking that i might be interested in owning my own town. i checked into it and you can buy the whole town for 215 grand. to tell the truth i think that it might be a little bit overpriced but i’m still interested.
i told amy about it thinking that she would send me to a psychiatrist but she was more interested than i was. who knew?
i like the idea of being boss hog and owning a whole town. we could set up speed traps and live off of the money i get from speeding tickets. i could become a cult leader and set up a compound where everyone would worship gillian welch as the one true savior. we could build the worlds greatest roadside attraction featuring the worlds largest statue of harry dean stanton that would lure weary travelers to us from all over the world. we could open up an artist colony where we could house artist that needed somewhere to create without the distractions of everyday madness. there are way too many options to keep up with. i like the idea of just moving out into the middle of nowhere and just telling the world to kiss our asses.
i’m doubting that we’ll go through with it but who knows. i’ve done dumber things!
