r/todayilearned • u/Sweet_Foundation_868 • 1h ago

TIL that Mark Cuban purchased the town of Mustang, Texas for 2 million dollars.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mustang,_Texas
253 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

40 comments sorted by

186

u/Tomi97_origin 1h ago

Town is generous name for place that according to 2020 Census had population of 0 people.

He bought it in 2021.

74

u/thissexypoptart 1h ago

Makes sense why it only cost $2 million

Most towns are worth more than $2 million from just one or two government owned buildings and the land they sit on, alone.

17

u/looktowindward 1h ago

25k an acre. Not bad

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u/thissexypoptart 38m ago

It’s not a bad selling price for land but it’s ostensibly a town, with buildings on at least some of that land.

25k an acre, when the acres in question have buildings and public infrastructure on them, is not great. But makes sense, given that no one lived there.

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u/Basket_475 21m ago

It was created to sell alcohol in an otherwise dry county. People also used to live there.

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u/thissexypoptart 14m ago

People also used to live there.

Lmao, yes, obviously. It's not like a ghost town just manifested itself in the middle of nowhere.

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u/Bottle_Gnome 12m ago

Tell that to China

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u/Basket_475 11m ago

My b I responded to wrong person

9

u/Tomi97_origin 1h ago

They tried to sell it for 4m, but nobody bought it.

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u/Vigilante17 3m ago

How much was Schitts Creek?

15

u/TheGoochTaint 1h ago

It is an actually incorporated municipality, though. One of nine in the US with no residents.

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u/iThoreaulyBrewed 32m ago

How does that work exactly? With no mayor, no treasurer, none of the typical hallmarks of a municipality? It’s hard for me to understand how it can continue to “exist” without anyone there.

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u/Tomi97_origin 21m ago

Municipality continues to exists until it is legally dissolved. The process is governed by state laws.

In Texas, where this particular one exists, it requires petition be submitted to major and vote of citizens.

Without any citizens there is nobody to petition or vote on dissolution.

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u/iThoreaulyBrewed 15m ago

So, could a person move to an unpopulated municipality, hold an election, vote themselves into office as any electable official and I guess establish their own laws, albeit for their municipality alone?

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u/Tomi97_origin 12m ago

The municipality of Monowi, Nebraska has population of exactly one.

The town major, clerk, treasurer, librarian, and bartender Elsie Eiler, who by properly filling annual road plans continues to secure state funding as any other municipality.

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u/warrends 1m ago

This sounds fun. Sort of …

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u/DeathMetal007 16m ago

How does one give up, retain, or gain citizenship? Land ownership?

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u/Tomi97_origin 14m ago

Citizenship was not the best word to use.

It would be legal residents. And the same way as you get legal residency in any other municipality.

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u/Magnus77 19 11m ago

I think disincorporating takes an active measure, nobody lives there to vote on it, and I'm guessing the state doesn't actively care enough to take action.

Or, tin foil-ish hat, Cuban asked the state not to remove the status because it might be useful at some point for development purposes. Though he's repeatedly said he has no plans, and I have no idea what you would even do with it, just a thought I had.

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u/Tomi97_origin 6m ago

Under Texas constitution it is ordinarily active process that includes someone filing petition to the major, then required vote by residents before it municipality is dissolved and county takes over the services.

The state legislature can forcefully do it as well, if they really want to. But normally it's voluntary process.

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u/PerfectlySplendid 22m ago

I’m existing without anyone there just fine.

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u/boobearybear 25m ago

“Cuban stated that he had made the purchase to help a friend who needed to sell, and that he did not have any immediate plans for the property.”

So a flat triangle of grass with a couple of ramshackable abandoned houses is owned by a fella with no plans to visit there or do anything with it.

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u/boobearybear 10m ago

Also it’s more of a rectangle

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u/Cautious_Capital4990 19m ago

Data center.

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u/ripyourlungsdave 27m ago

So he just bought a piece of property.

Fascinating stuff.

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u/Tomi97_origin 24m ago

No. It is legally a town with all the legal authority of one.

It can issue legal ordinances and has official legal status.

3

u/ghostarmadillo 1h ago

Largest strip club per capita ratio in the world.

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u/Magnus77 19 10m ago

According to the article it was torn down, unless they had more than one to begin with.

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u/Non-Current_Events 0m ago

Well at least now he can tell people he bought the town and everyone in it.

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u/Wrsj 39m ago

First thing I thought after reading the title was “wtf he brought people” then I read your comment

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u/mlee117379 45m ago edited 20m ago

Mustang was incorporated in 1973 for the purpose of selling alcohol in what was then a dry Navarro County.[10] The incorporation effort was led by partners William "Bill" McKie, a former Corsicana city attorney, and Harold "Mack" McElhenney, a businessman. On October 30, 1973, the town approved beer sales. In a March 25, 1975, election, residents voted 20–0 in favor of selling hard liquor, as well as mixed beverages. Mustang had a population of 12 in the 1980 Census, which grew to 35 in 1990.[9] By the mid-1990s, the town lost its status as the primary alcohol stop in the county, as other nearby communities began to repeal their blue laws.[11]

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u/nowhereman136 17m ago

Step 1: Buy the town

Step 2: Build it up to attract people

Step 3: invest in physical health and sports

Step 4: Create new pro teams to join the NBA and BBCL

Step 5: Profit

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u/Driftlack 50m ago

When he goes bankrupt there should be a hotel there him and his family can stay at.

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u/G952 48m ago

Something like Cuban’s Creek I suppose

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u/8927626887328837724 41m ago

Good thing he bought it as a joke

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u/Inveramsay 12m ago

As far as purchases go I don't think it was entirely unreasonable. It's adjacent to Corsicana which is a small town 45 minutes away from Dallas

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u/ElGuano 15m ago

So he bought one of the hundreds of open-space ranch-land plots available in Texas? I remember seeing signs all over for "For sale, $x per acre!" back when I drove through Texas. Always wondered if they had water/electrical/roads etc connected at all.

Can you actually "buy" a real town with residents, in the US? How does that work from a civics perspective--do you just become the mayor, do you need to have public office and elections, or does everyone just become your tenant?

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u/NickDanger3di 7m ago

Tbf, we already know you can buy congresspeople and senators.

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u/PM_ME_ASS_OR_GRASS 7m ago

It was a town that was created just to serve alcohol in an otherwise dry county