Elk Horn is a city in Shelby County, Iowa, United States.

[5] Newspaper articles from the Atlantic, Iowa newspaper published in 1919 on the death of Mrs. Winters and 1939 on the history of Clay Township In 1864 a colony of Wisconsin people with 3 or 4 covered wagons came to Iowa to establish a town and settled on a knoll two miles southwest of what is now Elk Horn.

Her husband traversed the stage route along the ridge country between Grove City and Harlan, carrying the mail prior to the advent of the railroad.

The site of the cabin was later occupied by Chris and Stena Jensen, and the Lawrence Nelson and Mrs. Peter M Petersen farms.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 0.77 square miles (1.99 km2), all of it land.

32.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 20.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

The racial makeup of the city was 99.08% White, 0.15% Native American, 0.62% Asian, and 0.15% from two or more races.

Students from the area attend Exira–Elk Horn–Kimballton Community School District,[11] which has a campus located in Elk Horn.

The former Elk Horn–Kimballton Community School District consolidated effective July 1, 2014.

As of 2010, all sports were combined with the Exira "Vikings" and "Vikettes" from Exira, Iowa to create the Exira-EH-K Spartans; mascot colors now are maroon and black for both schools, the original colors for EH-K were orange and black.

It served as a magnet for Danish immigrants, drawing them to Elk Horn in great numbers.

In 1894, Pastor Kristian Anker, then owner and principal of the Elk Horn Højskole, sold it to the newly formed Danish Lutheran Church in North America for use as a seminary and college.