The middle of nowhere

As people around the world are socially distancing, it’s nice to remember that remarkable things can happen when you’re all alone. To help remind us that life doesn’t stop when you’re not surrounded by others, BBC Travel is updating some of our most popular stories of inspiring individuals who have made the most of their solo time and created, cultivated or cared for something beautiful.

Five miles from the South Dakota border in the remote northern reaches of the US state of Nebraska, a long dirt road cuts through rolling prairie grasslands and golden wheat fields towards downtown Monowi, a place you can see in its entirety by climbing any of its hay bales.

An abandoned church, whose empty pews are now filled with tractor tyres, stands opposite the decaying skeleton of a grain elevator. Weeds and brome grass twist around the rotting remnants of homes that are collapsing in on themselves. And inside a white, squat building with paint peeling off its frame, 84-year-old Elsie Eiler is flipping pork fritters and cracking open beer bottles for a pair of regulars under a sign that reads: “Welcome To The World Famous Monowi Tavern. Coldest Beer In Town!”

When Eiler’s husband, Rudy, passed away in 2004, he didn’t just leave her to run the tavern, but the whole town. Today, according to the US Census, Monowi is the only incorporated place in the US with just one resident, and Eiler is the mayor, clerk, treasurer, librarian, bartender and only person left in the US’ tiniest town.