Elmo is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

Dickinson County, Kansas Dickinson County is a county in Central Kansas. Its county seat and most populous city is Abilene. As of the 2020 census, the county population was 18,402. The county was named in honor of Daniel Dickinson, a U.S. Senator from New York th ...

, United States. Elmo is located south of Abilene at the northwestern corner of the intersection of K-4 and K-15.

History

Early history

For many

millennia A millennium () is a period of one thousand years, one hundred decades, or ten centuries, sometimes called a kiloannum (ka), or kiloyear (ky). Normally, the word is used specifically for periods of a thousand years that begin at the starting p ...

, the

Great Plains The Great Plains is a broad expanse of plain, flatland in North America. The region stretches east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, and grassland. They are the western part of the Interior Plains, which include th ...

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

was inhabited by

nomadic Nomads are communities without fixed habitation who regularly move to and from areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the population of nomadic pa ...

Native Americans. From the 16th century to 18th century, the

Kingdom of France The Kingdom of France is the historiographical name or umbrella term given to various political entities of France in the Middle Ages, medieval and Early modern France, early modern period. It was one of the most powerful states in Europe from th ...

claimed ownership of large parts of

. In 1762, after the

French and Indian War The French and Indian War, 1754 to 1763, was a colonial conflict in North America between Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of France, France, along with their respective Native Americans in the United States, Native American ...

, France secretly ceded

New France New France (, ) was the territory colonized by Kingdom of France, France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Kingdom of Great Br ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, per the Treaty of Fontainebleau.

19th century

In 1802, Spain returned most of the land to France. In 1803, most of the land for modern day Kansas was acquired by the United States from France as part of the 828,000 square mile

Louisiana Purchase The Louisiana Purchase () was the acquisition of the Louisiana (New France), territory of Louisiana by the United States from the French First Republic in 1803. This consisted of most of the land in the Mississippi River#Watershed, Mississipp ...

for 2.83 cents per

acre The acre ( ) is a Unit of measurement, unit of land area used in the Imperial units, British imperial and the United States customary units#Area, United States customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one Chain (unit), ch ...

. In 1854, the

Kansas Territory The Territory of Kansas was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 30, 1854, until January 29, 1861, when the eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the United States, Union as the Slave and ...

was organized, then in 1861

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

became the 34th

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

. In 1857,

Dickinson County Dickinson County is the name of three counties in the United States: * Dickinson County, Iowa * Dickinson County, Kansas * Dickinson County, Michigan See also * Dickenson County, Virginia Dickenson County is a county located in the Commo ...

was established within the

, which included the land for modern day Elmo. Elmo started about one mile from its current location, but the source of the name is unknown. When the

Missouri Pacific Railroad The Missouri Pacific Railroad , commonly abbreviated as MoPac, was one of the first railroads in the United States west of the Mississippi River. MoPac was a Class I railroad growing from dozens of predecessors and mergers. In 1967, the railroad o ...

was built through the area, the railroad didn't like the Elmo location because it was sloping ground, so it built a station at nearby Banner City (current location of Elmo). The old Elmo post office was moved to Banner City around 1887. The name Banner City already existed in Jackson and Trego counties, so eventually the Elmo name replaced it.''Kansas town of Elmo now quiet after a busy past''; Lawrence Journal-World; January 16, 2012.
/ref> The post office was opened in Elmo on December 16, 1884, and remained in operation until it was discontinued on May 6, 1966. The railroad was removed in the 1990s.

20th century

In 1899, Elias Sellards discovered a well-preserved trove of insect

fossils A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

about 3 miles south of Elmo in the Lower-Permian Elmo-Limestone member of the

Wellington Formation The Wellington Formation is an Cisuralian, Early Permian geologic Formation (geology), formation in Kansas and Oklahoma. The formation's Strataca, Hutchinson Salt Member is more recognized by the community than the formation itself, and the salt ...

. In 1925, Frank M. Carpenter begins studying the

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserve ...

bed. In 1928,

Robert John Tillyard Robert "Robin" John Tillyard Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (31 January 1881 – 13 January 1937) was an English–Australian entomology, entomologist and geologist. Early life and education Tillyard was the son of J. J. Tillyard and his wi ...

researched the same fossil bed. The Elmo site has produced tens of thousands of specimens, with more than 150 species of insects described, including large fossils of Meganeuropsis. The site is located on private land and closed to the public.Elmo Fossil Beds; Winds of Kansas.
/ref>

21st century

In 2014, a group of locals adopted the

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational television, educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation, and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Worksh ...

character

Elmo Elmo is a Muppet character on the children's television show ''Sesame Street''. A furry red monster who speaks in a high-pitched falsetto voice and frequently refers to himself in the third person, he hosts the last full 15-minute segmen ...

as its mascot to be placed on a new sign.

Geography

Elmo is located at the northwestern corner of the intersection of K-4 and K-15 (also known as 600 Ave in Dickinson County), which is south of Abilene or west of Herington.

Education

The community is served by

Chapman USD 473 Chapman USD 473 is a public unified school district headquartered in Chapman, Kansas, United States. The district includes the communities of Chapman, Acme, Carlton, Detroit, Enterprise, Industry (south of 1st Rd), Lyona, Manchester, Nava ...

public school district.

Gallery

Historic Images of Elmo
Special Photo Collections at

Wichita State University Wichita State University (WSU) is a public research university in Wichita, Kansas, United States. It is governed by the Kansas Board of Regents. The university offers more than 60 undergraduate degree programs in more than 200 areas of study in ...

Library Image:Welcome to Elmo.jpg, Welcome signage outside Elmo (2016) Image:Elmo church bell.jpg, Stone structure housing a statue and bell at the church (2016) Image:Elmo church statue.jpg, "Our Lady of the Farmland" statue (2016)

References

External links

St Columba Catholic Church

Kansas Ghost Towns
Historic Images of Elmo
Special Photo Collections at

Library {{Authority control Populated places established in 1884 Unincorporated communities in Kansas Unincorporated communities in Dickinson County, Kansas 1884 establishments in Kansas Elmo