This Town Is So Small That You Can’t Find People To Play Snake & Ladder

In a country where cities never seem to sleep, there exists a place where silence defines daily life. Far from crowded streets and suburban routines, one American village has just a single resident. Monowi, located in Nebraska, carries the unusual distinction of being the smallest incorporated town in US. There are no neighbours across the fence and no traffic passing through. The responsibility of keeping the town alive rests on one person alone.

That person is 90-year-old Elsie Eiler who performs every official duty required to keep the village functioning. She is the mayor, clerk and treasurer all at once. She is also the bartender who serves visitors who drive in from miles away. In addition, she looks after the local library and ensures the paperwork is in order.

According to a report in Scoop Upworthy, Eiler also prepares a road maintenance plan each year in order to get state funding. She also gets $500 in local taxes to keep three lamp posts running and water flowing. "When I apply to the state for my liquor and tobacco licenses 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," she said as quoted by the outlet.

Despite her age, Eiler also maintains records of empty residential plots in case someone ever decides to move in. She has lived in and around Monowi her entire life and sees no reason to leave. "I’m happy here. I grew up here, I’m used to this and I know what I want. It’s just hard to change after so many years,” she said.

Monowi, however, was not always this quiet. In its earlier decades, it served as a busy stop along the Elkhorn Railroad. Around 150 residents once lived here who ran businesses, eateries and even a prison. Farms in the surrounding region kept the local economy moving. Over time, as agricultural conditions shifted, opportunities began to shrink.

After World War II, rural America experienced steady decline,and Monowi followed the same path. Stores shut their doors, the post office closed and the school stopped operating. By 1980, only 18 residents remained in the village. Two decades later, the population stood at just two: Elsie and her husband, Rudy. They continued running the town’s tavern even as everything else disappeared.

Eiler’s connection to Monowi began long before she became its only citizen. She grew up on a nearby farm and met her future husband, Rudy, while still in primary school. The two travelled together by bus to attend secondary school seven miles away. Rudy later enlisted in the US Air Force and served in France during the Korean War. During that period, Eiler briefly moved to Kansas City and worked for an airline, though she admitted city life never truly appealed to her.

"I went to work for an airline with the dream of becoming a stewardess. I didn’t much care for the city. Monowi had always been home," she said. She married Rudy at 19 and returned to the village. The couple raised two children while Rudy worked at a grain elevator and delivered fuel. In 1971, he restored the old tavern that had once belonged to Eiler’s father and reopened it.

When Rudy passed away in 2004, Eiler became the sole remaining resident of the village. Guinness World Records later recognised Monowi as the world’s least populated town. Even so, visitors continue to arrive out of curiosity. The tavern remains open and across the road stands the Rudy Eiler Memorial Library. In 2020, she even posted a notice calling for mayoral elections and cast the only vote herself.

Her story has drawn attention online as well. In a video shared on Facebook, photographer Seph Lawless documented his visit to Monowi. He wrote: "In a town with a population of one, I stood face to face with Elsie Eiler - the last resident of Monowi, Nebraska. She lives alone in a town that once thrived - now a ghost echoing her memories. Meeting Elsie reminded me that sometimes, the strongest souls dwell in the quietest places. This is the story of the last heartbeat of America's smallest town. One woman. One town. A thousand stories." Visitors still travel 20 to 30 miles to gather at her tavern who she told BBC looks like “one big family.”