Merl Paaverud, superintendent of the State Historical Society of North Dakota, said other abandoned towns in the oil patch may come back to life.
"People are scrambling and trying to find places to live," he said. "A lot of these farming communities are gone, and if a number of them are revitalized, then that's great. But it's anybody's guess how permanent it will be."
For the Finsaases, the solitude and elbow room are gone from the once-quiet place where they raised three children.
Traffic along the two-lane highway that passes by their home has grown from a couple of vehicles an hour to hundreds. Waste gas from the rail-loading facility is flared a few hundred feet from the couple's home, emitting a constant roar and an eerie glow that comes through their windows at night.
Kerry Finsaas grew up in Dore, but she and her husband now want to leave the commotion behind. They plan to move to a home just east of Fairview, on the North Dakota side of the border.
While purchasing a for-sale sign for their home at a Fairview hardware store, a man recently offered to buy the couple's house without seeing it, said Darrell Finsaas, a retired utility worker.
The sale of their old home is pending, and the pair has already picked out a new house adjacent to a cemetery.
"We know our neighbors will be quiet there," Kerry Finsaas said.
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