History of Community

A bit of history prepared by Kathy Gill: 

In 1858, the Commissioners named our little town Dobson.  In 1863, the name was changed to Elmore in honor of Judge A.E. Elmore--someone decided to honor him but it is said that he never even visited Elmore.

Many people still refer to some of the older things as Dobson.  Dobson was a name of some of the first settlers most of which are now deceased with descendents somewhere, but none in Elmore.

The town was known as a railroad town.  Trains came from the Cities to Elmore and turned around and went back.  Trains also came from Omaha Nebraska and did the same thing. We had a "roundhouse" that could switch the trains back to their origin.

Elmore used to have a weekly paper called the Elmore Eye that ran from 1892 through 1991.  (The Elmore Area Historical Society [Museum] has the micro film for the years 1892-1918 and from 1925-1991.  The Museum also has a reader-printer).

Elmore's first graduating class was in 1917; the last in 1990 at which time the high school went to Blue Earth.  In 1997, the elementary school closed due to lack of students and also went to Blue Earth.  The Blue Earth Area School District now covers most of western Faribault County.  The Elmore School building is currently occupied by the Elmore Academy-YSI which is a residential facility for adjudicated youth. 

They also provide the community with the Wildcat Cafe that is located on Willis Street in the former Elmore Eye/Senior Citizen building.

At one time, we were a bustling little town.  There were two banks, but one closed during the depression;  also had two elevators, one of which closed in 1989(?), a furniture store, several hardware stores, 3-4 grocery stores, gas stations, and beer parlors.  Like most other small communities, we have lost many businesses and have suffered a major decline in population. 

A NOTE ABOUT THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY:

The Elmore Area Historical Society was organized in 1993 and was occupying space in the high school but had to move.  The Elmore Academy-YSI purchased the old Methodist Church and remodeled it for the Museum.  We are proud of our museum and have received numerous compliments on it. We have many things at the Museum and new things are welcome, but they must be local items.  We have numerous genealogy's on file and would welcome more.  We also specialize in military uniforms and wedding dresses and we have a collection of items that have been distributed by the local businesses over the years. 

The Museum is open every 2nd & 4th Sundays except in the winter  or appointments can be made.  Stop in and check it out!