**Elmdale** is a city in Chase County, Kansas, United States. In 2020, 40 people lived there. It is along the U.S. Route 50 highway.

History
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1893 Railroad Map.
In 1854, the Kansas Territory was created. In 1861, Kansas became the 34th U.S. state. In 1859, Chase County was created within the Kansas Territory, which included the land for Elmdale.

In 1871, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway built a railroad east-west through Elmdale. In 1996, it merged with Burlington Northern Railroad and renamed to the current BNSF Railway. Most locals still call this railroad as the "Santa Fe".

In 1873, a post office was moved from **Middle Creek** (an extinct town), to the rail community of **Elmdale**.

### 20th century

Elmdale was incorporated in 1904.

In 1916, Camp Wood YMCA was built about 1.5 miles south of Elmdale.

There have been many floods during the history of Elmdale. In June and July 1951, due to heavy rains, rivers and streams flooded many cities in Kansas, including Elmdale. Many reservoirs and levees were built in Kansas as part of a response to the Great Flood of 1951. A levy was built and saved the town from many floods, but in 1998 a flood went over the levy.

In 1967, the high school closed, then later the grade school. All students currently go to school in Cottonwood Falls.

Geography
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Elmdale is at 38°22′23″N 96°38′46″W﻿ / ﻿38.37306°N 96.64611°W﻿ / 38.37306; -96.64611 (38.372965, -96.645988), in the Flint Hills of the Great Plains. The United States Census Bureau says that the city has a total area of 0.17 square miles (0.44 km2). All of it is land. The Cottonwood River is about 0.5 miles east of the city.

### Climate

The climate has hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. The Köppen Climate Classification system shows Elmdale has a humid subtropical climate, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps.

Area attractions
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Elmdale has one building on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP).

* Clover Cliff Ranch House (NRHP).

People
------

| Historical population |
| --- |
| Census | Pop. |  | %± |
| **1880** | 95 |  | — |
| **1910** | 253 |  | — |
| **1920** | 248 |  | −2.0% |
| **1930** | 246 |  | −0.8% |
| **1940** | 239 |  | −2.8% |
| **1950** | 180 |  | −24.7% |
| **1960** | 114 |  | −36.7% |
| **1970** | 102 |  | −10.5% |
| **1980** | 109 |  | 6.9% |
| **1990** | 83 |  | −23.9% |
| **2000** | 50 |  | −39.8% |
| **2010** | 55 |  | 10.0% |
| **2020** | 40 |  | −27.3% |
| U.S. Decennial Census |

Elmdale is part of the Emporia Micropolitan Statistical Area.

### 2020 census

The 2020 census shows that there were 40 people living in Elmdale. The population density was 242 inhabitants per square mile (93.4/km2). There were 18 housing units at an average density of 109 per square mile (42.1/km2). The people were 82.5% White, 5.0% Native American, 2.5% African American, and 10.0% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 7.5% of the people.

There were 11 households, of which 36.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.5% were married couples living together, 36.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 9.1% had a male householder with no wife present. 18.2% of all households had only one person, and 9.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.64.

The median age in the city was 26.5 years. 42.5% of residents were under the age of 18; 5.0% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 20.0% were from 25 to 44; 27.5% were from 45 to 64; and 5.0% were 65 years of age or older. The people were 50% male and 50% female.

Government
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The Elmdale government has a mayor and five council members. The council meets the 1st Monday of each month at 7PM.

Education
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The community is served by Chase County USD 284 public school district. It has two schools.

* Chase County Junior/Senior High School, 600 Main St in Cottonwood Falls.
* Chase County Elementary School, 410 Palmer St in Strong City.

The Elmdale Cougars won the Kansas State High School class B baseball championship in 1961.

Infrastructure
--------------

### Transportation

U.S. Route 50 highway and BNSF Railway goes through the city.

### Utilities

* Internet
	+ Satellite Internet is provided by HughesNet, StarBand, WildBlue.
* TV
	+ Satellite TV is provided by DirecTV, Dish Network.
	+ Free over-the-air ATSC digital TV.

Related pages
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* Great Flood of 1951

More reading
------------

See also: List of books about Chase County, Kansas

Other websites
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to ***Elmdale, Kansas***.

* Elmdale - Directory of Public Officials
* Chase County Chamber of Commerce
* Elmdale, A "Quiet" town of Chase County, Kansas, History and photographs.
* Historic Images of Elmdale, Special Photo Collections at Wichita State University Library.
* A Landmark And A Legend at YouTube, from *Hatteberg's People* on KAKE TV news
* Elmdale City Map, KDOT
* Topo Map of Elmdale / Clements area, USGS
* Chase County Maps: Current, Historic, KDOT

| * v
* t
* e
Municipalities and communities of Chase County, Kansas, United States |
| --- |
| County seat: **Cottonwood Falls** |
| Cities | 
* Cedar Point
* Cottonwood Falls
* Elmdale
* Matfield Green
* Strong City

 | Map of Kansas highlighting Chase CountyMap of Kansas highlighting Chase County |
| Unincorporatedcommunities | 
* Bazaar
* Clements
* Ellinor
* Hymer
* Saffordville
* Toledo
* Wonsevu

 |
| Ghost towns | 
* Elk‡
* Homestead
* Thurman

 |
| Townships | 
* Bazaar
* Cedar
* Cottonwood
* Diamond Creek
* Falls
* Homestead
* Matfield
* Strong
* Toledo

 |
| Footnotes | ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties |

|  |  |
| --- | --- |
| Authority control Edit this at Wikidata | 
* NARA

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