07-05-2025
EXCLUSIVE Inside the remote Nebraska town that only has ONE resident
A travel writer has shared a glimpse into the smallest town in America... which has only one resident - an 89-year-old woman who serves as the mayor, librarian, bartender, treasurer and sheriff.
Seth Varner, 25, a photographer and author from Wahoo, Nebraska, has dedicated the last five years to documenting every town in his home state.
Along the way, he discovered Monowi: an abandoned town with only one remaining resident.
That's right, at 89-years-old, Elsie Eiler is the one and only person living in the remote village, and she has dedicated her life to keeping it going.
Seth - who has visited Monowi eight times now - explained that it was once a booming town that was filled with multiple storefronts, restaurants, and homes, as well as a school, railroad, and prison.
In the 1930s, approximately 150 people called Monowi home.
But according to Seth, people began to leave the 'agricultural hamlet' during the rural-to-urban shift, and it's now 'essentially a ghost town.'
One woman stayed: Elsie, who is the last remaining Monowi resident and singlehandedly keeps the town afloat.
'From what I can tell, she manages all municipal planning (including securing state funding and power for Monowi's four streetlamps) by herself,' Seth dished.
There's no stores left in the town so Seth theorized that she goes to the neighboring villages to get groceries.
She spends her days managing the two remaining businesses: the local tavern and the library.
'Folks who visit Monowi nowadays primarily chat with Elsie and have a meal or a drink at the Monowi Tavern,' Seth dished.
'She's owned it since 1971, and she makes a mean burger. All that's left is the tavern, "Rudy's Library," the former collection of books owned by her husband, Rudy, who passed away in 2004, and a collection of abandoned homes, storefronts, and even the church that Elsie got married in.
'Most visits only take an hour or so, since it's essentially a ghost town with a population of one.'
According to Seth, Elsie loves having visitors, and you can usually catch her in the tavern cooking up meals for the tourists and reminiscing about what Monowi was during its prime.
'She's always happy to sit down and chat with visitors and talk about the days of old Monowi,' he shared.
'She will gladly welcome and talk to anybody who wants to know more about Monowi.
'She's got a lot of wit, and despite being semi-private, she says that she always enjoys the company of those who visit here.
'She's very down-to-earth, and for lack of a better word, she has a "no B.S." kind of elderly woman's attitude.'
Elsie spoke to BBC back in 2020 about what it's really like to run the town by herself.
At the time, she explained that she holds mayoral elections every year. She then casts a vote for herself - and as the only resident, she always wins.
'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,' she said.
'So, I get them as the secretary, sign them as the clerk and give them to myself as the bar owner.
'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.'
