This video was made possible by Brilliant. The first 200 people to sign up at brilliant.org/HAI
will get 20% off a premium subscription. You know what they say: one is the loneliest
number. It’s true, just like how three is the magic
number, or seven is the scariest number—because seven ate nine. In fact, one is especially lonely because
its only friend is the square root of negative one, and he isn’t even real, but even lonelier
than the number one is me, because it turns out numbers jokes don’t get you far at parties. The point is, one is lonely—it’s lonely
when there’s one person at a restaurant, one person at a movie… but what about when
there’s one person in an entire town? This is Monowi, Nebraska. It’s a bustling little town, with a great
tavern, a well-stocked library, a charismatic mayor, a well-run local government, and this
is Elsie Eiler—she’s the bartender at the tavern, the librarian at the library,
the mayor of the town, and the clerk and treasurer of the local government. That’s because Elsie is Monowi, Nebraska’s
only resident. At its peak, Monowi was home to 150 people,
sustained mostly by its placement as a stop on the Elkhorn Railroad. It was a real town, with all the normal things
that a small midwestern town would have: a child disappearance, a mysterious young girl
with telekinetic powers, a Demogorgon, a coming of age story arc with 80’s horror influence—wait
sorry wrong small midwestern town. But Monowi did have a grocery store, some
restaurants, a church, even a prison, and that Monowi—the populated one—is the Monowi
that Elsie Eiler grew up in. She was born in 1934 on a farm about a quarter
mile from town, and met her husband Rudy in the one-room schoolhouse they both attended. When Rudy went off to fight in the Korean
War, Elsie moved to Kansas City for a bit to work for an airline, but when the war ended
and Rudy returned home to Monowi, so did Elsie, and the two of them got married and settled
down in their hometown in 1953. But Monowi soon began to meet the same fate
that was to befall many a small midwestern town in that period—the soil grew less arable,
the economy downturned, and people began to flock to cities. By 1980, there were only 18 residents left
in Monowi. By 2000, there were only two: Rudy and Elsie,
who together ran the local tavern. When Rudy died in 2004, Monowi’s population
was cut in half, making it the only incorporated town in the United States with only one resident. Today, that one resident, Elsie, spends most
of her time running the Monowi Tavern, famous for serving the coldest beers in town. You can also buy a hamburger for $3.50, a
hot dog for $1.50, and if you really want to splurge you can get some gizzards for $4—which
I know sounds gross, but according to those who have visited, they’re the very finest
gizzards in the entire town of Monowi. In order to sell liquor at the Monowi Tavern,
though, Elsie needs a liquor license from the local government, but lucky for her, she
has a close personal connection to the mayor—it’s her. Each election cycle, she posts a public notice
in her tavern about the upcoming Monowi mayoral race, and while politics can sometimes be
a nerve-wracking profession, Elsie is never too worried: when election day comes around,
she casts a ballot for herself, thus winning in a landslide. She does a great job as mayor—in fact, among
the citizens of Monowi, she has a 100% approval rating. As mayor, she also must ensure that Monowi
can pay its yearly municipal water and electricity costs, and so she taxes herself $500. It’s a steep tax, but she knows that her
constituents will understand. She’s also tasked with creating a municipal
road plan each year so that she can secure state funding for her town’s four street
lights. In addition to her role as tavern owner and
mayor, Elsie serves as the librarian for Rudy’s Library, named in honor of her late husband. Anyone who would like can check out items
from Rudy’s collection of over 5,000 books and magazines. They’re housed in a small 320 square foot
shed, with shelves built by Elsie’s nephews, adorned with a handmade sign painted by their
grandchildren. It’s a very sweet, touching tribute to Rudy’s
love of reading—not to mention, it’s by far the best library in Monowi. They say that it’s lonely at the top, and
seeing as Elsie is by far the most powerful person in town, you might think she’d be
a bit isolated, but in fact, she’s frequently visited at the tavern by a number of regulars,
some of whom drive up to 200 miles just to check in on her. Things especially heat up on Sunday nights,
when the weekly game of the card game Eucher is played at the Monowi Tavern. Plus, because of all the media coverage she’s
garnered from being the only resident of America’s smallest town, Elsie is often visited by travelers
who have read about her in news articles or heard about her from videos like this very
one. If you decide to visit Elsie, it might be
nice to get her a gift and I’ve got the perfect thing: a premium subscription to Brilliant. Just think of how much fun Elsie could have
building her problem-solving skills with Brilliant’s fun and fascinating exercises. Even if you aren’t planning to visit Elsie,
I bet there’s someone in your life who you love to get a subscription to Brilliant this
holiday season: someone who’s full of curiosity, who loves science or math, or who just wants
to learn more about the world around them. Brilliant breaks up complex ideas into understandable
pieces, and helps to understand them in a fun and intuitive way. The first 200 people to sign up at brilliant.org/HAI
will get 20% off a premium subscription, so why not cross off some of your holiday shopping
so you can get back to procrastinating on YouTube?
