Boyd County · Nebraska

Monowi, Nebraska: The Incorporated Town With a Population of One

Monowi is the only incorporated municipality in the United States with just one resident. She is the mayor, treasurer, librarian, and bartender — and every year she grants herself a liquor license.

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Monowi 🇺🇸

Nebraska, United States

Tucked into the dry grasslands of Boyd County in north-eastern Nebraska, the incorporated village of Monowi has exactly one resident. Her name is Elsie Eiler, and she has been the entire town since 2004, when her husband Rudy died. She is its mayor, clerk, treasurer, librarian, and the proprietor of its only business: the Monowi Tavern.

From 150 residents to one

Monowi was founded in 1902 as a stop on a railway line. It peaked at around 150 residents in the 1930s, then declined steadily through the 20th century as the rail spur was abandoned and young people moved to bigger towns. By the 2000 census, the population was just two: Rudy and Elsie Eiler. When Rudy died in 2004, Elsie became the entire town.

Because Monowi remains incorporated, she is legally required to file a municipal road plan each year to receive state funding, draft and approve a town budget, and hold elections. She runs unopposed for mayor and votes for herself. She also grants herself a liquor licence — which she then uses to operate the tavern.

The Monowi Tavern and Rudy's Library

The Monowi Tavern has been open since the 1970s, originally as a Eiler-family side business. After Rudy died, Elsie kept it running. It is the social hub for an enormous radius of surrounding farms — ranchers drive 30 or 40 miles for the burger, the cold beer, and the conversation. The tavern opens around 9 a.m. and closes when the last customer leaves.

Next to the tavern, Elsie also runs Rudy's Library — a small white building containing the 5,000-volume personal collection her late husband spent his life assembling. It is open to anyone who happens to stop by; she keeps the lights on in his memory.

Why Monowi still counts

Several other US locations claim a population of one, but Monowi is the only one that is also an incorporated municipality with a formal government, meaning it appears in census tabulations and US Geological Survey records as its own legal entity. Demographers expect that to end whenever Elsie — born in 1933 — eventually stops running things. For now, Monowi has the distinction all to itself.

Fun facts

Monowi's name is thought to come from a Native American word meaning "flower."
Elsie's official duties include sending in a state-mandated municipal road plan every year to keep the village's road funding.
She votes in every election. She has never lost.
The closest larger settlement is Lynch, Nebraska — population about 245, ten miles south.

Gallery

The Monowi Tavern — Elsie Eiler's bar and the social hub of the surrounding farmland. Photo: Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA.

Rudy's Library — the 5,000-volume collection Elsie keeps open in memory of her late husband. Photo: Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA.

Sources

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Text on this page is original Terralocate editorial. Background facts compiled from the public sources listed above. Images via Wikimedia Commons under their respective licenses (typically CC BY-SA or public domain).