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History · Elmo

Elmo’s history is
mostly unwritten

The public archives hold no old photos of Elmo. The rest are in attics, shoeboxes and the historical society. Help start the collection.

0old images & papers
0recent photos

The story so far

from Wikipedia & the U.S. Census

Elmo Township is a township in Otter Tail County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 323 at the 2020 census. Elmo Township was organized in 1880.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 331 to 323 (-2%). Half of its homes were built before 1981.

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

Intro from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Population and housing: U.S. Census Bureau.

Be one of the first

Start Elmo’s collection

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

0 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Famous people from ElmoWriters, athletes, leaders and more who were born in Elmo.Meet them →
By decade

Elmo, decade by decade

Before
2000
No old photos in the archives yetWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
📷 Add from your album
National Register of Historic Places

Nothing in Elmo is on the National Register yet

That’s true of most small towns. It doesn’t mean Elmo has no history, only that no one has written up a nomination. The closest listed place is Lewis House and Medical Office in Henning, 7.2 miles away.

Elmo and the nearest listed places

Dashed line = Elmo. Tap a dot.
Lewis House and Medical OfficeTrinity Lutheran ChurchHewitt Public SchoolEagle Bend High SchoolCommercial HotelLake Carlos State Park WPA/Rustic Style Historic District

Closest to Elmo

Lewis House and Medical OfficeHenning · Building7.2miTrinity Lutheran ChurchHenning · Building7.4miHewitt Public SchoolHewitt · Building13.9miEagle Bend High SchoolEagle Bend · Building15.4miCommercial HotelWadena · Built 188516.9mi

How a place gets listed

1Talk to the stateEvery nomination goes through the State Historic Preservation Office. Owners, towns and historical societies can start one.
2Try a local or state list firstMany states keep their own register with a shorter form, a common first step for old barns, halls and schoolhouses.
3Write it upA nomination covers the history, photos and a map. Lewis House and Medical Office’s page links to a real one.
Know an old place in Elmo?A mill, a schoolhouse, a cellar hole, a church: add a photo of it to Elmo’s story, or a memory of it.
📷 Add a photo of an old place
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places · photos from Wikimedia Commons

Then & now

When neighbors add old photos, retakes from the same spot appear here side by side.

Stories next door

nearby towns’ history
📜 Inman📜 Folden📜 Parkers Prairie📜 Woodside
The coffee’s on

Where to, neighbor?

You’re in Elmo, MNOtter Tail CountyView boundary

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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/15 · 2025-01-01
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