Friday Feature: Monowi, Nebraska

“After me, I suppose there will be nothing here. But I aim to be around for quite a few years yet.”

Elsie Eiler

Mayor of Monowi, Nebraska

“One is the loneliest number.” At least that’s how the song goes made famous by the Three Dog Night. But Elsie Eiler isn’t buying it. She’s the sole resident of Monowi, Nebraska—the only incorporated town in the United States with population 1—but she’s not lonely. She doesn’t have time to be.

Mrs. Eiler runs the Monowi Tavern, the last establishment standing in town (the general store closed during World War II when the owner left to work on the draft board and it’s not really standing today—more leaning). Her regulars come from 80 miles around to wet their whistle, eat her home cooking, and enjoy her company. And they come for the books. You see, Monowi isn’t just a one-woman town—it’s a one-woman town with a library. 

Out behind the tavern, Mrs. Eiler opened Rudy’s Library in memory of her husband of 49½ years who died in 2004. The library contains the treasure trove of books Mr. Eiler collected throughout his lifetime—5,000 of them in all. Mrs. Eiler says her husband read endlessly and was “forever buying something for a little bit of nothing.” The library is operated on the honor system: take out a book if you like it, and return it when you’re done.

These days Mrs. Eiler has an additional job—she’s kept busy holding court for reporters from around the country and across the pond. In 2005 the Los Angeles Times did a piece on her little library, and the national and international media ate it up. Among the many reporters beating a path to her door, the Today Show and London Times came calling, as did CBS Sunday Morning. Things were just settling down, when in March of this year Larry the Cable Guy announced on his radio show that he was holding a hot dog roast that very day in Monowi to raise money for the town. Within hours 1,200 folks turned up to eat a few hot dogs and show their support.

If you find yourself in the northern prairie of Nebraska, stop by Monowi. You can grab a cold beer and fried egg sandwich at the Monowi Tavern, browse the stacks in Rudy’s Library, and enjoy a bit of Americana history.

Sources:
Spirit of 5,000-book library enlivens ghostly hamlet of 1 [Original Los Angeles Times story (as retold in Chicago Tribune)]
Introducing the mayor of Monowi: (population: 1) [London Times]
Slide show of photos from Monowi
Monowi Wikepedia page