Rulo is a village in Richardson County, in the far southeast corner of Nebraska, on the west bank of the Missouri River. The town site was laid out in 1857 on land tied to the Rouleau family, and the surname, worn down by local pronunciation, became the spelling Rulo. Sources differ on which Rouleau the name honors. The Great Nemaha River reaches the Missouri near the village, and the ground here is the lowest point in Richardson County, about 875 feet above sea level. The 2020 census counted 144 residents.
The river crossing has shaped the place more than anything else. A steel truss bridge built in 1939 carried U.S. Highway 159 over the Missouri for more than seventy years and had grown too narrow for modern traffic. A replacement opened in 2013 about 650 feet to the south, and the old span was brought down with explosives in January 2014. The 1939 bridge had been listed on the National Register of Historic Places and appeared in the 1973 film Paper Moon.
What brings people to Rulo now is mostly the water. The village is a working access point for Missouri River fishing, and there is a shaded park with picnic tables and a playground at Sixth and Rouleau. Students attend Falls City Public Schools.
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Rulo is a village in Richardson County, Nebraska, laid out in 1857 along a historic Missouri River crossing and named for Charlie Rouleau, the original town-site owner.
Home to 144 residents at the 2020 Census, Rulo sits near a Lewis and Clark campsite and the Leary archaeological site, both significant to the region's history; a new US-159 bridge across the Missouri River replaced the town's original 1939 span in 2013.
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Road Conditions: Nebraska 511 — 511.nebraska.gov
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