monowi's peak years were in the 1930s, when it had 150 people living there. like many other small communities in the great plains, its younger residents moved to cities that were growing and had better jobs. during the 2000 census, the village had only two people; only one married couple, rudy and elsie eiler, lived there. rudy died in 2004. this made his wife the only remaining resident. she acts as mayor, giving herself a liquor license and paying taxes to herself. she is required to make a municipal road plan every year in order to get state funding for the village's four streetlights.