What? I swear this isn't a joke. There is a town out in Nebraska that only has one single inhabitant. Talk about lonely. Although I'm sure the noise pollution and quality are amazing. I'm not sure I'd ever move there, but hey, I'm just saying.
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Party Of One
As I said before, you didn't misread the title. There is a town out in Nebraska called Monowi that only has a single resident. Her name is Elsie Eiler, she's 89, and she's having the time of her life.
What is most likely the now smallest town in America (Or, legally, I guess, at the very least tied for smallest) used to not be this way. It was rediscovered by traveling photographer Seth Varner, who had trekked out to document every single town in his home state of Nebraska.
After happening upon this town and its lone inhabitant, he just had to learn more. So he kept coming back to visit. Eight more times.
After his countless visits and conversations with Elsie, he has found out a considerable amount more about this mysterious town. Turns out it used to have up to or slightly more than 150 residents. The height of its popularity was in the 1930s. However, people began to filter out of the agrarian town during the rural-to-urban shift.
However, one woman stayed to keep the town afloat.
She Is Literally Every Woman
Seth has said, after one of his many visits, "From what I can tell, she manages all municipal planning by herself." So yeah, kind of a beast. That includes, of course, securing state funding and making sure the street lamps in the town stay on.
Apparently, her current chief concerns are her restaurant, which she owns, and the library she enjoys operating. "She's owned it (the restaurant) since 1971, and she makes a mean burger," Seth stated about Monowi's lone resident.
It sounds like the main activity in the town is, of course, coming for a drink and chat with Elsie. "Most visits only take an hour or so, since it's essentially a ghost town with a population of one," Seth confirmed.
Elsie has had a conversation back in 2020 with the BBC to discuss how precisely she manages to run this location alone.
