[4][5] The site of the town of Ellsinore was originally patented on April 15, 1857, by Robert Patterson just two years before Carter County was organized.

On March 2, 1889, the Current Local printed the following: “Over in the kingdom of Carter, on the land of the Cape Girardeau and Southwestern Railroad (Houck Railroad), at a point eleven miles distant from Williamsville, there is in process of evolution a little town bearing the name of Ellsinore …” It is not exactly certain how the town came to be called Ellsinore, but the most widely accepted story is that Mr. Brooks, the chief engineer of the Houck Railroad, named the town after Elsinore Castle in Denmark, the setting of William Shakespeare's Hamlet.

The post office however added an extra “l” making the spelling “Ellsinore.” In 1888 John Carr opened the first store in Ellsinore which catered largely to the men who were building the railroad.

In early 1889 the Ellsinore Post Office was established, Silace Pace being its first postmaster.

In 1889 William Crommer and Bob Evans began operating a sawmill at Ellsinore, buying up most of the timber in the area that had not already been bought up by the Missouri Lumber and Mining Company.

After passing through a number of hands it finally closed down in 1903 and the equipment moved to Kelley Fork in Wayne County.

Almost all the equipment was home made and the entire library consisted of a single very old copy of Webster's dictionary.

In 1904 W. E. Condray and Clarence Crites began the Carter County Canning Company (4C Brand) in Ellsinore, but the business folded in 1907 largely due to a lack of interest.

In 1912 the Ellsinore, Crommer Town, Lower Ten Mile, Upper Ten Mile, Hogan Hollow, White's Mill and Freeland school districts consolidated for the purpose of creating a high school.

On April 13, 1939, a ceremonial first pole for Ozark Border Electric Cooperative was raised behind the Ellsinore Post Office.

It is approximately 14 miles east-southeast of Van Buren and within the Mark Twain National Forest.

[9] According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 0.49 square miles (1.27 km2), all land.

[10] Notable Locations The Alcorn Corner House - At the North side of town by the Headstart building .

Royal Oak Charcoal - on county road 330 off highway 60 As of the census[12] of 2010, there were 446 people, 190 households, and 112 families residing in the city.