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 for 2.83 cents per acre.
Elmo started about one mile from its current location, but the source of the name is unknown. When the Missouri Pacific Railroad 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).[2] 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.[3][4] The post office was opened in Elmo on December 16, 1884, and remained in operation until it was discontinued on May 6, 1966.[5] The railroad was removed in the 1990s.
In 2014, a group of locals adopted the Sesame Street character Elmo as its mascot to be placed on a new sign.[12]
Geography
Elmo is located at the northwest corner of K-15 and K-4 (also known as 600 Ave in Dickinson County), which is 15 miles (24 km) south of Abilene or 14 miles (23 km) west of Herington.
Education
The community is served by Chapman USD 473 public school district.