Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: maps from 1940 on and the census since 1880.
Elmo dates its founding to 1879 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1880.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Elmo’s history is told.
Peaked at 342 in 1910; 114 people lived here in 2020.
13 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Elmo’s Wikipedia page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Elmo.
Elmo, first called Ebbony, was platted in 1879, when the Wabash Railroad was extended to that point. The community most likely was named after the novel St. Elmo. A post office called Elmo has been in operation since 1886.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Elmo, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Elmo, a village of about two hundred inhabitants, is situated on the Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific Railroad, nineteen and one-fourth miles, byrail, northwest of Maryville. The land on which the town of Elmo is located was originally owned by Isaac Hesser and the State Bank of Missouri. The land was bought by the Wabash Railroad Company, and the Western Improvement Company formed, who laid out the town in December, 1879. The land was surveyed by the railroad company.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
commissary sergeant and as company clerk till the close of the war, when he returned to Illinois. In the fall of 1867, he came to Nodaway County, Missouri, where he has since resided, being engaged in various occupations. He was the first to build a house in the town of Elmo, and since that time has been engaged in his present business. In 1865, Mr. B. was elected township collector for one year, and in the following spring was elected as a justice of the peace, which position he has since continued to hold. In January, 1876, he was qualified as notary public.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Elmo. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Elmo.
Nobody well known was born in Elmo itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
In 1879, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Elmo’s post office opened in 1886, and the census of 1880 counted 87 people here.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
2025