Elsie Eiler, 90, mayor and sole resident of a ghost town

Welcome to Monovi, Nebraska. At the age of 90, Elsie Eiler lives alone in a village 300 kilometers north of Omaha, the state’s largest city.

A ghostly village in the heart of the plains of an agriculturally dominated state. This sign sets the tone: you won’t meet many people here, except for the many cattle grazing in the pastures.

The only business in Monovi should be owned by the mayor, LC. This is the bar she opened with her husband in 1971. The only business still standing is next to the long-defunct local motorcycle club.

He is probably the oldest bar owner still in operation in the country. Six days a week, twelve hours a day, he works in the village to provide cold beer and great cheeseburgers to passers-by.

Leaning over the bar, a regular, Edward Key, is a farmer living in Verdel, a town of twenty people, 10 kilometers from Monovi. Since there isn’t much in the area, he appreciates the bar, and especially Elsie, faithful to the post at this meeting place in the Mediterranean.

After the death of her husband, Rudy, who died in 2004, Elsie Eiler has been taking care of the place alone. If he were still alive, we’d both still be working here because that’s what we wanted to do. That’s what I want to do and I’m sure he respects me for that.

Next to the bar is the Municipal Library, a tribute to Rudy. It includes hundreds of books owned by him. The building is still open to area residents. It’s a way for Elsie to keep her late husband’s spirit alive in the town she’s lived in since childhood.

Thousands passed through Monovi to meet this unique mayor. People from more than 70 different countries have signed the restaurant’s guest book, including Elsie Leeler from California, who couldn’t resist meeting her name, and Erin McColdrick from Indiana. road trip across the country.

Interestingly, while Elsie Eiler was the only resident, the US Census Bureau added another resident to its Monovi records a few years ago. A gesture they say in the office to protect their privacy and confidentiality of data. The census is stupid, Elsie replied. I don’t know what it is. I don’t think there’s anyone here but me for 20 years.

Elsie Eiler wouldn’t leave her little kingdom for anything in the world. Even as she laments the slow death of villages like hers. Some of the houses that are still standing are being swallowed up or swallowed up by vegetation. The reason is the lack of work for the youth, who have all left for warmer climes.

Monovi was founded in 1903, when the Mason, Elkhorn and Missouri Valley Railroad extended to this location. A post office was established there in 1902 and remained in operation until 1967. From the 1970s, the railway was dismantled, and it signed the village’s death warrant.

Roger Kohn, who has known Elsie Ayler for 50 years, makes no secret of his concern for Monovi’s future. There aren’t many places where we can get together for a sandwich or a burger. When Meyer inevitably dies, he fears the establishment will one day close. He says that unless she does something different that no one else does, she lives forever.

For now, though her back is more stooped and her walk slower than before, Elsie Eiler cares about her restaurant’s customers. She continues to fill out the paperwork for her restaurant license, which she automatically issues. After all, he is the mayor.

Monovi is part of this rural America that is dying little by little, abandoned by decision makers and politicians who allow existing infrastructure to deteriorate. The exodus from these Midwestern regions to larger centers continues.