[7] A post office was established under the name "Duck Creek" in 1855, was renamed to Elwood in 1869, and has been operating since.

[9] On August 17, 1940, the Republican National Committee held a formal notification ceremony to recognize Elwood-born Wendell Willkie as its nominee for President of the United States to run against Franklin Roosevelt.

Held at Callaway Park on the outskirts of town, the ceremony drew 150,000 people for what would become the largest political rally in American history at the time.

When Willkie stepped onto the platform, the crowd cheered him for ten minutes before he could begin his speech.

However, oppressive heat and Willkie's underwhelming, flat speech left many disappointed by the end of the day.

[12][13] At the rally for Wendell Willkie, noted above, which drew around 150,000 people to the city, some prominent Black reporters, such as Marse Callaway of Baltimore, were allowed to briefly stay in a hotel downtown, but others were unable to stay the night due to the community's sundown status.

[14] Other Black people were discouraged from attempting to attend the rally at all due to the sundown signs posted at the city limits.

[15] In 2015, after Goshen, Indiana, passed a resolution acknowledging its history as a sundown town, Elwood's own past became a topic of discussion.

Anderson, the Madison county seat, is 17 miles (27 km) southeast of Elwood by local roads.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Elwood has a total area of 3.97 square miles (10.28 km2), all land.

[1] Big Duck Creek flows through the center of town, leading southwest to the White River near Strawtown.

In the years surrounding the turn of the century, Elwood, along with the nearby towns of Anderson and Gas City, were a common destination for Welsh immigrant families.