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History · Elmo

Elmo’s post office opened in 1911

Most of Elmo was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1997.

1911first post office
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Elmo began

When was Elmo founded?

1911

The Elmo post office opened in 1911, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 244115 years
Founding year: the first Elmo post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Elmo’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Elmo are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
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Start Elmo’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Elmo’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story so far

Elmo, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Elmo yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Elmo (Salish: sqʷʔeʔ, Kutenai: k̓upawi¢q̓nuk) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Lake County, Montana, United States. As of the 2020 census, Elmo had a population of 244. The townsite was platted in 1917. Elmo had a dock and warehouse that served boat traffic on Flathead Lake.

Its first post office opened in 1911. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 180 to 244 (+36%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

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Famous people

Famous people close to Elmo

Nobody well known was born in Elmo itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Michelle WilliamsAmerican actress · b. 1980
M
Margaret QualleyAmerican actress and model · b. 1994
B
Brad BirdAmerican film director, animator, screenwriter … · b. 1957
Lily GladstoneAmerican actress · b. 1986
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Misty UphamAmerican actress · b. 1982
Tim KoletoJapanese ice dancer · b. 1991
Places that used to be

Old corners and places now gone

Elmo’s post office has been open since 1911.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Fort Lazy Y Trailer Park
Gone or out of use
Elmo Schoolschool

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Elmo’s history

What year was Elmo founded?

The Elmo post office opened in 1911, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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Sources

Where this page comes from

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 the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.