Rulo Nebraska - Nebraska Directory

Rulo Area Cameras

Village · Richardson County · Population 144 (2020 census) · ZIP 68431 · Founded 1857 · Peak population 877 (1900)

About Rulo

Rulo is a village of 144 on the Missouri River in southeastern Richardson County, about 9 miles east of Falls City, where US 159 crosses the river into Holt County, Missouri. It is near the mouth of the Big Nemaha and beside the lands of the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska.

History

Rulo was laid out in 1857 on land belonging to the wife of Charles Rouleau, held under the 1830 treaty that created the Nemaha Half-Breed Tract; the name is the French surname spelled as it sounds. The county commissioners incorporated the town in April 1858 (Andreas gives 1859), and the county's first newspaper, the Western Guide, began here that May. Rulo had mills, a brewery and a sawmill, and coal was mined nearby. It peaked at 877 people in 1900.

On July 12, 1804, the Lewis and Clark expedition camped near the mouth of the Big Nemaha; William Clark walked up the river and noted mounds, and Pvt. Alexander Willard was court-martialed for sleeping on guard. The Leary Site, an Oneota village and burial ground of about AD 1210–1350 some 4 miles south-southeast of town, is a National Historic Landmark on Iowa tribal land and is not open to the public. The 1939 Rulo Bridge, built with Public Works Administration funds, was replaced by a new US 159 bridge in 2013 and imploded on January 19, 2014. Missouri River floods have repeatedly closed the crossing; in 2019 it did not reopen until September.

Highways and trails through Rulo

Route	One way	Other way
US 159 (Stutsman St.)Through the village; crosses the Missouri on the 2013 bridge	East into Holt County, Missouri, toward Big Lake and I-29	West to Falls City (about 9 mi)

Nearby towns

Yankton	about 2.1 mi north-northeast	County roads
Preston	about 4.8 mi west-southwest	US 159 and county roads
Winnebago	about 2.8 mi north-northwest	County roads
Arago	about 6 mi north-northwest	County roads
Falls City	about 9 mi west	US 159
Barada	about 14 mi northwest	County roads

Things to see

The Lewis and Clark Campsite marker on 1st St. south of Stutsman St. (US 159), and a 1939 City of Rulo marker at Stutsman and 1st Sts. · Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, on Rouleau St. (church of 1872) · Wild Bill's Bar & Grill, overlooking the river · Rulo Cemetery, at the west edge of town · Margrave WMA on the Big Nemaha, about 3 mi southwest · the former town sites of Yankton and Winnebago to the north · Casino White Cloud, run by the Iowa Tribe, about 9 mi southeast in White Cloud, Kansas

Schools and health care

Schools: Falls City Public Schools: Falls City North Elementary (PK–2), 2500 Chase St.; Falls City South Elementary (3–5), 1000 Fulton St.; Falls City Middle School (6–8), 1415 Morton St.; Falls City Senior High (9–12), 1400 Fulton St.

Health care: No clinic in Rulo; Community Medical Center, 3307 Barada St., Falls City, 402-245-2428 (25-bed critical access hospital, with its Family Medicine Clinic at the same address)

Sources: U.S. Census; Wikipedia; Andreas, History of the State of Nebraska (1882); Edwards, History of Richardson County (1917); History Nebraska; National Register of Historic Places; Nebraska Game and Parks; Nemaha NRD; Nebraska Department of Transportation; city, village, school, library, museum and parish websites. Distances marked "about" are straight-line estimates.