SCENIC, South Dakota - The area purchased by a powerful Philippine church was once a cowboy town that locals describe as “a piece of history.”

Today, the remnant of the Wild West belongs to the Iglesia Ni Cristo.

The few who visited the ghost town in South Dakota are not happy.

“My mixed feelings are the church's Christ bought it and there's a lot of history here. What to they know about it?” said Dan Carr, who works for the township.

Carr helps maintain the garage that houses the township’s two fire trucks.

When representatives of the INC bought all 46 acres of Scenic from rancher Twila Merril for $799,000, they paid him extra to look after the place.

“It don't matter how I feel because they come up with the money and bought it,” said Carr.

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Locals wary of new neighbors, Iglesia Ni Cristo