Elmo, Missouri
12 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1940 and the latest in 1993. It stands in Lincoln Township. It lies in ZIP code area 64445. It stands on Jerry Creek. The Survey maps it on the Clearmont quadrangle. 114 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,027 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresElmo fell from 168 to 114 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 168 | |
| 2020 | 114 | -54 (-32%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
8 surveys from 12 printed sheetsMatched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.
- 1940 USGS Coin quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1943 USGS Coin quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1955 USGS Nebraska City quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1957 USGS Nebraska City quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Nebraska City quadrangle1:250000
- 1981 USGS Clearmont quadrangle1:24000
- 1985 USGS Nebraska City quadrangle1:100000
- 1993 USGS Nebraska City quadrangle1:100000
In the county-history sources
2,240 words on this townshipPast and Present of Nodaway County, Missouri, published 1910 names this settlement in its chapter on Lincoln Township. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.
The towns of the township of Lincoln are Dawsonville and Elmo. Dawsonville is located about two and a half miles northwest of Burlington Junc¬ tion, on section 5. township 65, range 37. The land on which it is built was originally owned by D. N. McCrea and W. M. Walker. It was named in honor of Hon. Lafe Dawson, of Maryville. For some time the citizens called the place Dawson, but the railroad company called it Dawsonville, and the postoffice was established as Dawson, hence the place is now commonly known as Dawson. The place is located within a beautiful natural grove, with the line of the Wabash railroad running through the edge of the town. In 1880 the place had a population of about one hundred and fifty, and the enumeration is now about the same. The date of its platting was December 20, 1879, and it was executed by E. A. Garvey, civil engineer for the Wabash road, who laid out the plat. The land owners gave one-third of the lots to the com¬ pany and its engineer for laying off and platting in legal form the place. The first train of cars reached Dawson September 2, 1879. Ei the same month the first business house was erected by Mr. Burnett for a general store : he received his first invoice of goods before the depot was built and landed the merchandise on the ground from the freight cars. He also had charge of the postoffice the first year after its establishment. The second building was a blacksmith shop run by Isaac Weddel and the next was a building removed from Lamar station by Alonzo Reese. A. S. Thompson then erected the first boarding house. Then followed a law office and justice of the peace head¬ quarters for D. V. McCrea, Esq. The town at once become a fine shipping point and during the years 1881-82 there were shipped from this place two hundred fifty thousand bushels of corn alone. Besides this there were two hundred cars of cattle shipped out. Less than one mile from Dawson was a fine water mill owned by H. Burnett, which was of much service to the settlers in that locality. The Nodaway was spanned by a nine-foot dam giving ex¬ cellent water power.
Passage source: Past and Present of Nodaway County, Missouri, published 1910.
Elmo (first called Ebbony, next St. Elmo and finally Elmo), situated on the line of the Wabash railroad, almost twenty miles northwest from Mary¬ ville, stands on land originally owned by Isaac Hesser and the State Bank of Missouri. The land was purchased by the railroad and the Western Improve¬ ment Company, who laid out the town in December, 1879. The first building was the depot. W. C. Eeker built a hotel at once and conducted it two years. J. R. Nelson then added a stock of general merchandise and James Brown started the first blacksmith shop. The Masonic hall building was removed from Lamar to Elmo in the early history of the place.
Passage source: Past and Present of Nodaway County, Missouri, published 1910.
The town was incorporated in April, 1904, and the following have served as its mayors : T. M. Tudder, A. A. Reece, T. M. Tudder, J. S. Severs. Among the postmasters serving at Elmo are these : S. R. Johnston, R. E. Davis, W. E. Scott, F. D. Hurst, S. P. Lamar, L. P. Colvin. The present postmaster is S. R. Johnston. The town is now supplied with a good four-room brick school house, two stories high, built about 1900.
Passage source: Past and Present of Nodaway County, Missouri, published 1910.
Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.
Read the whole chapter on Lincoln Township - it names this place 3 more 3 times.
Fires near this place
5 since 2018Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 5 fires within 5 miles of Elmo between 2018 and 2020, burning about 54 acres in total. None started naturally. None was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3 |
| Debris and open burning | 1 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 March 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Missouri Department of Conservation | 190156-07499-03042020-1748 |
| 3 March 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Missouri Department of Conservation | 190113-07499-03032020-1330 |
| 14 March 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Missouri Department of Conservation | 176045-07499-03142018-1912 |
| 17 February 2020 | Debris and open burning | 2.4 acres | Missouri Department of Conservation | 190112-07499-02172020-1420 |
| 11 October 2020 | Equipment and vehicle use | 51 acres | Missouri Department of Conservation | 230832-07499-10112020-1351 |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
3 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 3 workings within 5 miles of Elmo: 3 past producers. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Crushed/Broken. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
Storms near this place
12 since 1997Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Elmo in 12 storm reports between 1997 and 2023: 6 hail, 3 thunderstorm wind, 1 tornado, 1 flood. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 1997 | Thunderstorm Wind | Elmo | $20,000 | The Nodaway County sheriff's office reported large trees blown down in Elmo. |
| May 2023 | Hail | Elmo | - | Quarter sized hail was reported between Westboro and Elmo in Nodaway County. |
| August 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Elmo | - | Law enforcement in Elmo reported some large tree limbs down. |
| June 2017 | Flash Flood | Elmo | - | A prolonged flash flooding event took place across much of Nodaway County on the evening of June 28. Numerous roads across the county were closed, and at least one water rescue was performed near Maryville. At one point a herd of cattle were reported floating across HWY 136. The current well-being of the cattle is unknown. |
| June 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Elmo | - | A tree was blown down. Thunderstorm wind gusts were estimated up to 60 mph. |
| October 2007 | Flood | Elmo | - | The Nodaway River near Burlington Junction crested at 23.30 feet, or 0.30 feet above flood stage. |
| June 2004 | Tornado (F0) | Elmo | - | Brief tornado touchdown observed by spotters just west of Elmo. No damage reported. |
| May 2001 | Hail | Elmo | - | The public reported 3/4 inch hail and wind gusts to 60 mph. |
| March 2012 | Hail | Elmo | - | no account filed |
| April 2010 | Hail | Elmo | - | no account filed |
| May 2002 | Hail | Elmo | - | no account filed |
| May 2001 | Hail | Elmo | - | no account filed |
Nearest settlements
The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.
| Map | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Possum Walk | 2.3 miles | 14 | |
| Dawsonville | 3.8 miles | 14 | |
| Clearmont | 4.5 miles | 12 | |
| Burlington Junction | 5.7 miles | 14 | |
| Roseberry | 6.8 miles | 14 | |
| Quitman | 10.2 miles | 14 | |
| Wilcox | 11.4 miles | 11 | |
| Pickering | 15.2 miles | 11 |
Elsewhere
Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.
| Wikipedia article on Elmo | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q577498 | The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0). |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 730094. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.







