Elk

Elk, between U.S. Highway 84 and Farm Road 2957 four miles southeast of Axtell in eastern McLennan County, was formed in the 1880s, mainly by settlers of Czech and German descent. An Elk post office was established in July 1894 with Martie Emma McKinley as postmistress. Elk had a general store in 1896 and a population of eighteen in 1900. Its post office was discontinued in 1906, and mail for the community was rerouted through Axtell. By the 1920s Elk had seventy-five residents, a cotton gin, two churches, a saloon, and a school. Its population fell to thirty-eight in the early 1930s but rose again to seventy-five by the end of the decade. A church, a few businesses, and several houses represented the community on county highway maps in the 1940s. The Elk common-school district was consolidated with the Axtell high school district in 1955. A church and a gas station were all that remained at Elk in the early 1980s. In 2000, however, the population reached 150.