Our name story

The town was platted and named Quincy on March 1, 1853, by its founders James Anderson, J.B. Frazier, and Mark Simmons. Another town named Quincy already existed in Owen County so the US postal office operated under the name Duck Creek. This dual identity caused significant confusion for residents for nearly 15 years. To solve the problem, Postmaster Captain F.M. Hunter and local citizens organized a movement to give both the town and the post office a single, unified name. On June 15, 1869, the town was officially renamed Elwood, reportedly in honor of the son (Homer Elwood Frazier) of one of the original founders.