Rulo, Nebraska

13 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1920 and the latest in 1986. It stands in Rulo precinct. It lies in ZIP code area 68431. The Survey maps it on the Rulo quadrangle. 145 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 886 feet above sea level.

Rulo within Richardson County

On record in Rulo

Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.

On the National Register 1 record

Rulo Bridge

Population over time

2 figures

Rulo fell from 172 to 145 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.

Year	People	Change
2010	172
2020	145	-27 (-16%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

6 surveys from 13 printed sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

1920 USGS Craig quadrangle1:62500, 5 printings
1955 USGS Nebraska City quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
1957 USGS Nebraska City quadrangle1:250000
1958 USGS Nebraska City quadrangle1:250000
1965 USGS Rulo quadrangle1:24000
1986 USGS Falls City quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings

In the county-history sources

11,072 words on this township

History of Richardson County, Nebraska : Its People, Industries and Institutions, published 1917 names this settlement in its chapter on Rulo Precinct. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.

Rulo precinct occupies die southeast corner and takes its name from the city of Rulo. The town was founded by Charles Rouleau, a bYenchman, who settled on the site of the town in 1855. The town is located on the Missouri river alx)ut two miles north of the Great Nemaha, and lies on what was l(irmerl\- known as the Half-Breed tract: consequently, the town and the land surrciunding it were allotted to and for a long time held by the halfjjreed Indians and white men who bad married into the Lo family.

Passage source: History of Richardson County, Nebraska : Its People, Industries and Institutions, published 1917.

For some years this element seriously retarded the progress ant! growth of this section of our county, but they disappeared before the tide of immigration that was attracted to this \icinity by its many natural advantages. The town of Rulo contained several hundred (perhaps seven or eight hundred) people prior to the coming of the railroad in 1871 and thereafter rapidly improved. In the year 1870, just prior to the coming of the railroad, which was built in from the south on this side of the river, this point handled more than one hundred thousand bushels of corn. A steam corn sheller was used for shelling the corn and the grain merchants there had much to complain of in regard to transportation facilities. One line of steamers had a monopoly upon the entire carrying trade on the river and practiced extortion in the way of high freight rates and, like the later and greater railroad monopoly, were as much displeasing to the shipper, as they carried the grain when they pleased, witliout reference to the convenience or interest of the shippers. This condition caused the shippers to pray for the speedy arri\al of the "iron horse," which forever (or at least to the present time), has put the boats out of business. They felt that the first snort of the iron horse coming from the south or east, along the valley of the Missouri, would spoil the nice little thing so long enjoyed by the steamboat men exclusively.

Passage source: History of Richardson County, Nebraska : Its People, Industries and Institutions, published 1917.

In the early days cheap lumber was obtained from the Rush bottoms just across the river and from the extensive establishment of Mr. Sprinkle, near the Yankton townsite north of Rulo. The Great Nemaha river runs through the southern part of the precinct. The uplands of this valley consist of smooth undulating prairie, which in most cases slopes gradually doAvn to the bottom lands of the Nemaha, which are from one to two miles wide. Several small streams afiford an abundance of water and groves of timber.

Passage source: History of Richardson County, Nebraska : Its People, Industries and Institutions, published 1917.

Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.

Read the whole chapter on Rulo Precinct - it names this place 7 more 7 times.

Fires near this place

9 since 2016

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 9 fires within 5 miles of Rulo between 2016 and 2020, burning about 135 acres in total. None started naturally. None was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause	Fires
Debris and open burning	8
Equipment and vehicle use	1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

Date	Cause	Size	Reported by	Name on the report
5 June 2018	Debris and open burning	under an acre	Nebraska Forest Service	not named
26 April 2019	Debris and open burning	under an acre	Nebraska Forest Service	not named
15 April 2019	Debris and open burning	8.0 acres	Nebraska Forest Service	not named
9 March 2016	Debris and open burning	1.0 acres	Horton Agency	DAVIS
6 March 2020	Debris and open burning	100 acres	Nebraska Forest Service	not named
21 March 2020	Debris and open burning	10 acres	Nebraska Forest Service	not named
18 February 2017	Debris and open burning	10 acres	Nebraska Forest Service	not named
20 November 2020	Debris and open burning	5.0 acres	Nebraska Forest Service	not named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Richardson County

Storms near this place

27 since 1999

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Rulo in 27 storm reports between 1999 and 2024: 11 flood, 9 hail, 6 thunderstorm wind, 1 tornado. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

When	Event	Place named	Harm	What the report says
June 2015	Flood	Rulo	$75,000	This was the second, and more significant flood of the Missouri River near Rulo in the month of June. The river crested at 21.47 ft, or 5.47 feet above flood stage. In addition to significant agricultural low-land flooding, some cabins along the river also flooded.
September 2014	Flood	Rulo	$10,000	The Missouri River rose above flood stage during the afternoon of the 10th, and crested during the early morning hours on the 11th, before falling below flood stage on the afternoon of the 12th. The flooding was minor and confined to low-lying areas along the river.
October 2014	Flood	Rulo	$5,000	Heavy rainfall at the end of September caused the Missouri River to go into flood. The river rose above flood stage in the afternoon on the 1st, crested on the afternoon of the 2nd, and fell below flood stage on the evening of the 3rd. The river flooding was minor and mainly confined to low-lying areas along the river.
April 2024	Tornado (EFU)	Rulo	-	Report received of a tornado touchdown a mile to the south-southwest of Rulo, Nebraska over NAWAS. No damage was observed after the fact, so a rating could not be assigned.
June 2022	Thunderstorm Wind	Rulo	-	Public reported tree limbs down in town.
May 2020	Hail	Rulo	-	Public reported hail 1 inch.
May 2018	Thunderstorm Wind	Rulo	-	A tree was blown down in Rulo from thunderstorm winds. All of Rulo was without power for about one hour due to the thunderstorm.
April 2016	Flood	Rulo	-	Minor flooding was observed along the Missouri River near Rulo. The river rose above flood stage at the end of April, but the flooding continued into early May when the crest was observed.
May 2016	Flood	Rulo	-	A prolonged period of flooding was observed along the Missouri River near the city of Rulo. The river crested twice during the period, once on the 2rd at 19.79 feet, and again in moderate flood on the 12th at 21 feet. This created an extended period of lowland agricultural flooding along the river. There were also several cabins that flooded along the river.
April 2016	Flood	Rulo	-	Heavy rain events on the 20th into the 21st created minor flooding on the Missouri River. The river crested 0.54 feet above flood stage at Rulo in southeast Nebraska.
May 2016	Flood	Rulo	-	Minor flooding to agricultural lowland along the river was observed with a crest of 20.89 feet. The river flooding continued into the month of June.
June 2015	Flood	Rulo	-	Minor flooding was observed along the Missouri River near Rulo. The river crested 3.34 feet above flood stage. The flooding was confined to mainly low areas near the river channel.
May 2015	Flood	Rulo	-	Heavy rainfall over parts of southeast Nebraska on the 6th and 7th of May resulting in minor flooding along the Missouri River near Rulo. The river crested at 17.30 feet, or .3 feet above flood state during the early morning on the 9th of May. The flooding was confined to low-lying areas along the river.
December 2015	Flood	Rulo	-	Heavy rainfall over a two-day period in mid December brought the Missouri River to rise above flood stage. The crest reached 20.53 feet in the early morning hours of December 16th. This was 3.53 feet above flood stage. Flooding was confined to low agricultural areas along the river.
May 2013	Thunderstorm Wind	Rulo	-	Thunderstorm wind gusts estimated at close to 60 mph caused some tree damage in the Rulo area. A swing set also sustained significant damage.
May 2013	Flood	Rulo	-	The Missouri River at Rulo went above flood stage late in the morning of May 28th, crested around 23.5 feet late in the evening of the 30th and eventually fell below flood stage early in the morning of June 2nd. Although the river mostly flooded agricultural lowlands, several cabins and possibly a business in the area either experienced minor flooding or were threatened by the flooding.
April 2009	Thunderstorm Wind	Rulo	-	A thunderstorm wind gust estimated at 60 mph was reported by the public and relayed to the NWS through the county dispatch.
June 2009	Hail	Rulo	-	Hail up to golf ball-size covered the ground from around 4 miles west of Rulo through Rulo and just northeast of town.
August 2007	Thunderstorm Wind	Rulo	-	Thunderstorm winds downed power lines near Rulo.
June 2004	Thunderstorm Wind	Rulo	-	Thunderstorm wind gusts estimated to over 60 mph snapped numerous trees up to 12 inches in diameter in Rulo.
July 2014	Hail	Rulo	-	no account filed
August 2009	Hail	Rulo	-	no account filed
March 2008	Hail	Rulo	-	no account filed
June 2008	Hail	Rulo	-	no account filed
June 2005	Hail	Rulo	-	no account filed
March 2000	Hail	Rulo	-	no account filed
May 1999	Hail	Rulo	-	no account filed

Every storm recorded in Richardson County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Place	Distance	Sheets
Yancton (historical)	1.8 miles	13
Nohart (historical)	4.2 miles	13
Preston	4.9 miles	12
Preston Census Designated Place	5.0 miles	12
Arago (historical)	7.4 miles	14
Archer (historical)	7.8 miles	12
Falls City	9.3 miles	12
Williamsville (historical)	11.2 miles	12

Elsewhere

Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.

Wikipedia article on Rulo	An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2081724	The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0).

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 832769. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.