Ellsworth was laid out on December 6, 1871 by Jonathan H. Cheney (1833-1920) and Almon Brigham Ives (1816-1887) and Oliver Ellsworth, whom the town was named after [REF].
In November 1871 an advertisement appeared in the Bloomington Pantagraph saying that on November 8 an auction of 150 lots would be held at the site of the new town.