This Nebraska town once had 150 people, today one woman runs it alone

Five miles from the South Dakota border, a dirt road winds through the Nebraska prairie towards a town that has almost vanished. Monowi still has its street signs, a few battered buildings and three lampposts, but there is only one person left to see them each morning. Elsie Eiler, 84, lives in a trailer beside the town’s small tavern, which she opens for customers who travel from miles away. She pours the drinks, cooks the food and keeps the books. She is also Monowi’s mayor, clerk, treasurer and librarian.In a place where the old church stands empty and weeds have begun to swallow the remains of houses, Eiler’s routine has become an unusual thread connecting the town’s past with its present. Once home to about 150 people during its railway-era heyday, Monowi now depends on one resident to keep its name, lights and doors alive.How a Nebraska farm girl became Monowi’s final residentEiler’s unusual position came about gradually rather than through some sudden disappearance. Monowi had once been a small but active railway community. During the 1930s, around 150 people lived there, with shops, restaurants, a school and even a prison. The railway brought movement through the town, whil...