Elsie Eiler poses next to the Monowi town population sign on the outskirts of the village in 2011. She is the only resident
At the age of 84, Elsie Eiler is still the proud mayor of her hometown of Monowi in Nebraska.
But not only is she the town’s mayor, she is also the village clerk, treasurer, the smartest, the wealthiest and the youngest resident.
This is because she is the only person who lives in Monowi, making it the smallest town in the whole of the U.S.
A 2000 census revealed that Monowi’s population used to be two – but that other person was Mrs Eiler’s husband, Rudy, who died in 2004.
Despite her husband’s death Mrs Eiler decided to stay in Monowi, declaring it was her home.
She still lives in a mobile home a half-block from the only business in the town – the Monowi Tavern – which she owns and operates.
She bought the bar with her husband in 1971 and works 12 hour days serving drinks and food.
It’s not her only business. She also runs the town library – a tiny building jammed with 5,000 books, which is dedicated to her husband, who was a devoted reader.
And while some shrinking communities in the US decide to become unincorporated, Mrs Eiler has kept up the required paperwork to keep Monowi as a village.
She told Reuters: ‘I‘m the whole thing. There’s no need for any elections because I’d be the only one to vote.’
Each year, Mrs Eiler completes a municipal road plan to secure funding from the state of Nebraska.
She also raises taxes from herself to keep the three lampposts in the town flickering and the water flowing and signs off her own liquor and tobacco licence.
A 2000 census revealed that Monowi’s population used to be two – but that other person was Mrs Eiler’s husband, Rudy, who died in 2004.
Some of the abandoned buildings in what is known as downtown Monowi
The roads are empty despite it being rush hour in America’s smallest town of Monowi
The elderly resident told the BBC: ‘When I apply to the state for my liquor and tobacco licences each year, they send them to the secretary of the village, which is me.
‘So, I get them as the secretary, sign them as the clerk and give them to myself as the bar owner.’
Mrs Eiler received considerable publicity after her husband died and she became the lone resident of Monowi.
One of the businesses that Mrs Eiler runs is this bar and grill. She bought the bar with her husband in 1971 and works 12-hour days serving drinks and food
Mrs Eiler talks with friends that have stopped by at the tavern in a picture from April 2011
Mrs Eiler signs off her own liquor and tobacco licence, as she is also the town’s mayor and clerk
Mrs Eiler, left, with customers Orpha and Cork Kalkowski at the Monowi Tavern in 2005
Mrs Eiler’s licence plate marks her as the only resident in the village of Monowi. Visitors from around the world have passed through the town to meet her
Visitors from around the world passed through Monowi to meet her.
She said: ‘They have been real friendly and curious.
‘I know I could always move closer to my children or stay with them whenever I want, but then I’d have to make all new friends again.
‘Hopefully I will be able to stay here. It’s where I want to be.’
Mrs Eiler received considerable publicity after her husband died and she became the lone resident of Monowi in 2004
Mrs Eiler runs the town library – a tiny building jammed with 5,000 books, which is dedicated to her husband, who was a devoted reader