Biohazard Cleanup Near Downtown Elmo Elmo, TX

Elmo is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Kaufman County, sitting on U.S. Highway 80 about 6 miles east of Terrell and 13 miles northeast of Kaufman, the county seat.

Elmo's history began in 1870 when the Texas and Pacific Railway laid track through the area, and the new railhead town was named in honor of Elmo Scott, the T&P surveyor who routed the line through the county.

Elmo received its post office in 1873, and by the mid-1880s it was a shipping point for cotton, corn, and wheat with several mills, five churches, schools, and about 900 residents.

Elmo faded steadily through the twentieth century — only about 150 people remained by 1945, and the old townsite had shrunk to roughly 90 residents by 1990.

In 1892 Elmo's residents adopted a resolution declaring it a sundown town and forcing its Black residents to leave, a documented episode in the community's history.

Elmo first appeared as a census-designated place in the 2010 census, and the 2020 census counted 803 people across its roughly 4.1 square miles of land, up from 768 in 2010.

Census figures put Elmo's average household size at about 2.7 people.

Although Elmo is in Kaufman County, its students attend schools in the neighboring Wills Point Independent School District.

Elmo was the home of Henry Qualls, a Texas blues and country blues guitarist and singer who recorded for the East Texas blues tradition.