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You know what they say: one is the loneliest number.
It’s true, just like how three is the magic number, or seven is the scariest number—because
seven ate nine.
In fact, one is especially lonely because its only friend is the square root of negative
one, and he isn’t even real, but even lonelier than the number one is me, because it turns
out numbers jokes don’t get you far at parties.
The point is, one is lonely—it’s lonely when there’s one person at a restaurant,
one person at a movie… but what about when there’s one person in an entire town?
This is Monowi, Nebraska.
It’s a bustling little town, with a great tavern, a well-stocked library, a charismatic
mayor, a well-run local government, and this is Elsie Eiler—she’s the bartender at
the tavern, the librarian at the library, the mayor of the town, and the clerk and treasurer
of the local government.
That’s because Elsie is Monowi, Nebraska’s only resident.
At its peak, Monowi was home to 150 people, sustained mostly by its placement as a stop
on the Elkhorn Railroad.
It was a real town, with all the normal things that a small midwestern town would have: a
child disappearance, a mysterious young girl with telekinetic powers, a Demogorgon, a coming
of age story arc with 80’s horror influence—wait sorry wrong small midwestern town.
But Monowi did have a grocery store, some restaurants, a church, even a prison, and
that Monowi—the populated one—is the Monowi that Elsie Eiler grew up in.
She was born in 1934 on a farm about a quarter mile from town, and met her husband Rudy in
the one-room schoolhouse they both attended.
When Rudy went off to fight in the Korean War, Elsie moved to Kansas City for a bit
to work for an airline, but when the war ended and Rudy returned home to Monowi, so did Elsie,
and the two of them got married and settled down in their hometown in 1953.
But Monowi soon began to meet the same fate that was to befall many a small midwestern
town in that period—the soil grew less arable, the economy downturned, and people began to
flock to cities.
By 1980, there were only 18 residents left in Monowi.
By 2000, there were only two: Rudy and Elsie, who together ran the local tavern.
When Rudy died in 2004, Monowi’s population was cut in half, making it the only incorporated
town in the United States with only one resident.
Today, that one resident, Elsie, spends most of her time running the Monowi Tavern, famous
for serving the coldest beers in town.
You can also buy a hamburger for $3.50, a hot dog for $1.50, and if you really want
to splurge you can get some gizzards for $4—which I know sounds gross, but according to those
who have visited, they’re the very finest gizzards in the entire town of Monowi.
In order to sell liquor at the Monowi Tavern, though, Elsie needs a liquor license from
the local government, but lucky for her, she has a close personal connection to the mayor—it’s
her.
Each election cycle, she posts a public notice in her tavern about the upcoming Monowi mayoral
race, and while politics can sometimes be a nerve-wracking profession, Elsie is never
too worried: when election day comes around, she casts a ballot for herself, thus winning
in a landslide.
She does a great job as mayor—in fact, among the citizens of Monowi, she has a 100% approval
rating.
As mayor, she also must ensure that Monowi can pay its yearly municipal water and electricity
costs, and so she taxes herself $500.
It’s a steep tax, but she knows that her constituents will understand.
She’s also tasked with creating a municipal road plan each year so that she can secure
state funding for her town’s four street lights.
In addition to her role as tavern owner and mayor, Elsie serves as the librarian for Rudy’s
Library, named in honor of her late husband.
Anyone who would like can check out items from Rudy’s collection of over 5,000 books
and magazines.
They’re housed in a small 320 square foot shed, with shelves built by Elsie’s nephews,
adorned with a handmade sign painted by their grandchildren.
It’s a very sweet, touching tribute to Rudy’s love of reading—not to mention, it’s by
far the best library in Monowi.
They say that it’s lonely at the top, and seeing as Elsie is by far the most powerful
person in town, you might think she’d be a bit isolated, but in fact, she’s frequently
visited at the tavern by a number of regulars, some of whom drive up to 200 miles just to
check in on her.
Things especially heat up on Sunday nights, when the weekly game of the card game Eucher
is played at the Monowi Tavern.
Plus, because of all the media coverage she’s garnered from being the only resident of America’s
smallest town, Elsie is often visited by travelers who have read about her in news articles or
heard about her from videos like this very one.
If you decide to visit Elsie, it might be nice to get her a gift and I’ve got the
perfect thing: a premium subscription to Brilliant.
Just think of how much fun Elsie could have building her problem-solving skills with Brilliant’s
fun and fascinating exercises.
Even if you aren’t planning to visit Elsie, I bet there’s someone in your life who you
love to get a subscription to Brilliant this holiday season: someone who’s full of curiosity,
who loves science or math, or who just wants to learn more about the world around them.
Brilliant breaks up complex ideas into understandable pieces, and helps to understand them in a
fun and intuitive way.
The first 200 people to sign up at brilliant.org/HAI will get 20% off a premium subscription, so
why not cross off some of your holiday shopping so you can get back to procrastinating on
YouTube?