[1] Elmo is located 15 miles (24 km) south of Abilene at the northwestern corner of the intersection of K-4 and K-15.

In 1803, most of the land for modern day Kansas was acquired by the United States from France as part of the 828,000 square mile Louisiana Purchase for 2.83 cents per acre.

In 1857, Dickinson County was established within the Kansas Territory, which included the land for modern day Elmo.

In 1899, Elias Sellards discovered a well-preserved trove of insect fossils about 3 miles south of Elmo in the Lower-Permian Elmo-Limestone member of the Wellington Formation.

[9] The Elmo site has produced tens of thousands of specimens, with more than 150 species of insects described, including large fossils of Meganeuropsis.