Sometimes in life, there are things that sounds unbelievable and absurd yet they are true. One of such things is the fact that there is a town in Nebraska called Monowi which is an officially recognized town in the United States. This small and lonely town called Monowi just has a sole occupant who happenes to be a lady in her 70's by name Elsie Eiler. Indeed, even the populace sign which stands alone at the edge of the town expresses that Monowi town is just occupied by one individual.
Mrs Elsie Eiler standing next to the populace sign
This town happens to be the littlest and the loneliest town in America. Mrs Elsie Eiler serves as the mayor, treasurer, librarian and clerk while working at the bar she owns. She became the only occupant of the town when her better half passed away in 2004. She pays taxes to herself and grants her own liquor permit. Every year, she publicizes mayoral election and after that votes in favor of herself.
I am certain the question going through your head now will be where is everybody in Monowi? Furthermore, where is Elsie's family? Well this town was established in 1902 and it's name Monowi was derived from a native American word which means flower because numerous wideflowers grew there.
Tracing it back to 1903, this farming town had a populace of around 300 individuals, but eventually majority of the young residents left the town looking for better life and greener pasture when farms became mechanized and jobs started vanishing. Her own children also moved to different urban communities, Monowi populace dwindled until the point when she turned into the last occupant of the town after the death of her husband.
A picture of Monowi town taken in 1908
Mrs Eiler may live alone in this town, however individuals go to her neighborhood bar named Monowi Tavern when she opens it each morning. The greater part of her regulars live in surrounding towns which is only 30 to 40 miles away and some of her friends similarly drives as far as 250 miles away to come check up on her. The majority of her regulars continues returning to her bar since they cherish what she presents which includes burgers and fries regardless of whether they need to drive 100miles to her bar. She additionally opened a library behind her bar which contains about 4000 books.
Mrs Elsie serving customers at her bar
Monowi was once a town which flourished with promising farms, a mail station, two banks, a secondary school, a church and lines of durable wooden houses with a populace of around 300 individuals is presently left with just Mrs Eiler surrounded by remains of homes that once boasted families, neighbors and friends. Mrs Eiler is the last of her kind and the last of Monowi.