Alaska-49th State
The U.S. purchased Alaska from the Russian Empire on March 30, 1867, for $7.2 million dollars, which translates to about $.02 cents per acre! It was organized as a “territory” on May 11, 1912 and was officially admitted as our 49th state on January 3, 1959. It is the largest state by area but is the 3rd least populous and most sparsely populated of the 50 United States.