Monowi ( ) is an incorporated

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred ...

in Boyd County,

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...

, United States. It garnered national and international recognition after the

2010 United States census The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators servi ...

counted only one resident of the village, Elsie Eiler. Though the 2020 census listed Monowi's population as two, this was confirmed to be an example of

differential privacy Differential privacy (DP) is a system for publicly sharing information about a dataset by describing the patterns of groups within the dataset while withholding information about individuals in the dataset. The idea behind differential privacy is t ...

in the census data; Eiler remains the town's sole resident. According to tradition, the name ''Monowi'' means "flower" in an unidentified Native American language. Monowi was so named after the many

wildflower A wildflower (or wild flower) is a flower that grows in the wild, meaning it was not intentionally seeded or planted. The term implies that the plant probably is neither a hybrid nor a selected cultivar that is in any way different from the ...

s growing at the original site of the village.

History

Monowi was

plat In the United States, a plat ( or ) (plan) is a cadastral map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. United States General Land Office surveyors drafted township plats of Public Lands Surveys to show the distance and bea ...

ted in 1903, when the Mason, Elkhorn and Missouri Valley Railroad was extended to that point. A

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional ser ...

was established in Monowi in 1902 and remained in operation until 1967. Monowi's peak years were in the 1930s, when it had a population of 150. Like many other small communities in the Great Plains, it lost its younger residents to cities that were experiencing growth and offering better jobs. During the 2000 census, the village had a total

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...

of two; only one married couple, Rudy and Elsie Eiler, lived there. Rudy died in 2004, leaving his wife as the only resident in the village. In this capacity, she acts as

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

, and granted herself a

liquor license A liquor license (or liquor licence in most forms of Commonwealth English) is a governmentally issued permit to sell, manufacture, store, or otherwise use alcoholic beverages. Canada In Canada, liquor licences are issued by the legal authority ...

. She is required to produce a municipal road plan every year in order to secure state funding for the village's four street lights. Although the village is nearly abandoned, it does have a bar called the Monowi Tavern, operated by Eiler for passing travelers and tourists. In addition, Eiler maintains the five-thousand–volume Rudy's Library, founded in memory of her late husband. In 2018, the village was featured in commercials for

Arby's Arby's is an American fast food sandwich restaurant chain with more than 3,300 restaurants system wide and third in terms of revenue. In October 2017, ''Food & Wine'' called Arby's "America's second largest sandwich chain (after Subway)". Arby ...

and Prudential. The village was also used as a starting place for the biggest advertisement poster in the world, which was finished on June 13, 2018.

Census data

After the 1990 United States census, Eiler had observed that Monowi's population had been miscounted, and contacted radio broadcaster

Paul Harvey Paul Harvey Aurandt (September 4, 1918 – February 28, 2009) was an American radio broadcaster for ABC News Radio. He broadcast ''News and Comment'' on mornings and mid-days on weekdays and at noon on Saturdays and also his famous '' The Rest ...

to publicize the error. Years later, preliminary information from the 2020 census appeared to show that Monowi's population increased to two. However, Eiler denied that anyone had moved into the town, and a spokesperson for the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of t ...

said that the alleged second resident was actually a form of "

noise Noise is unwanted sound considered unpleasant, loud or disruptive to hearing. From a physics standpoint, there is no distinction between noise and desired sound, as both are vibrations through a medium, such as air or water. The difference aris ...

... add dto the ensusdata," in which some individuals are listed in a bordering

tract Tract may refer to: Geography and real estate * Housing tract, an area of land that is subdivided into smaller individual lots * Land lot or tract, a section of land * Census tract, a geographic region defined for the purpose of taking a census ...

to protect the anonymity of census respondents.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the village has a total area of , all land. The village is located in the far eastern portion of Boyd County, in the northeastern region of Nebraska. It is located between the

Niobrara River The Niobrara River (; oma, Ní Ubthátha khe, , literally "water spread-out horizontal-the" or "The Wide-Spreading Water") is a tributary of the Missouri River, approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. Many early settlers, such as Mari Sando ...

and the larger Missouri River. The nearest community to Monowi is

Lynch Lynch may refer to: Places Australia * Lynch Island, South Orkney Islands, Antarctica * Lynch Point, Marie Byrd Land, Antarctica * Lynch's Crater, Queensland, Australia England * River Lynch, Hertfordshire * The Lynch, an island in the River ...

, located approximately away. The village is located approximately from Omaha.

Demographics

Census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...

data for Monowi highlights its uniqueness, owing to the numerical singularity of its population. As of 2010: * The total population was one (87.5 years old, female,

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...

, named Elsie). * She was the one householder, living alone. * Of the three housing units in Monowi, only hers was occupied.

Education

The area is within Boyd County Public Schools. The area was previously within the Lynch Public Schools district in

. The Lynch district consolidated into the Boyd County district in June 2017.

Notes

References

External links

*
"Welcome to Monowi, Nebraska: population 1"
by Will Francome, Megan Garner & Eliot Stein.

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...