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Bruce, Wisconsin

7 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1948 and the latest in 1980. It stands in Bruce Village. It lies in ZIP code area 54819. It stands on Thornapple River. The Survey maps it on the Bruce quadrangle. 781 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,106 feet above sea level.

Bruce within Rusk County

Population over time

2 figures

Bruce grew from 779 to 781 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.

YearPeople Change
2010779
2020781+2 (+0%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

6 surveys from 7 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.

Fires near this place

83 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 83 fires within 5 miles of Bruce between 1992 and 2019, burning about 102 acres in total. None started naturally. 7 were 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 burning30
Equipment and vehicle use15
Missing data/not specified/undetermined9
Smoking8
Arson/incendiarism7
Recreation and ceremony5
Railroad operations and maintenance3
Power generation/transmission/distribution2
Other causes2
Fireworks1
Misuse of fire by a minor1

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

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
9 September 2000Power generation/transmission/distributionunder an acreWisconsin Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
19 September 2012Debris and open burningunder an acreWisconsin Department of Natural ResourcesHWY E DB
17 September 2003Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreWisconsin Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
13 September 2013Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreWisconsin Department of Natural ResourcesTRAILS END ROAD
13 August 2014Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreWisconsin Department of Natural ResourcesDAM RD FIRE
9 July 1992Smokingunder an acreWisconsin Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
4 July 2013Fireworksunder an acreWisconsin Department of Natural ResourcesTHORNAPPLE RD. FIRE
25 July 1998Debris and open burningunder an acreWisconsin Department of Natural Resourcesnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Rusk County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 21 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 21 workings within 5 miles of Bruce: 15 occurrences, 5 past producers, 1 unknown. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Amocoy Lake Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Apollonia Gravel DepositSand and Gravel, ConstructionOccurrence
Bruce Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Chippewa River Gravel DepositSand and Gravel, ConstructionOccurrence
Devils Creek Gravel DepositSand and Gravel, ConstructionOccurrence
Hay Creek Gravel DepositSand and Gravel, ConstructionOccurrence
Hay Creek Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
High Notch Gravel DepositSand and Gravel, ConstructionOccurrence
High Range Gravel DepositSand and Gravel, ConstructionOccurrence
Highway Edge Gravel DepositSand and Gravel, ConstructionOccurrence

Every working recorded in Rusk County

Storms near this place

37 since 1996

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Bruce in 37 storm reports between 1996 and 2024: 19 hail, 15 thunderstorm wind, 2 tornado, 1 flash flood. The reports record 1 injury. 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
July 1999Flash FloodBruce1 hurtAt least 6 inches of rain led to flooding of Clear Creek near Hwy 40 and County Road H. Normally 10 feet wide, it swelled to 100 yards wide. County Road H Bridge and nearby approaches washed out. Camper and farm machinery swept away. Basements flooded. Creek also flowed across Hwy 40. One man slightly injured when he drove into washed out bridge approach.
July 2019Thunderstorm WindBruce$150,000A NWS Storm Survey indicated wind damage occurred north of Bruce, and tracked eastward for several miles. The wind downed numerous trees, damaged a barn and outbuilding northwest of Ladysmith. Winds were estimated up to 75 mph as most of the barn roof was damaged or lifted off.
July 2021Thunderstorm WindBruce$25,000There were approximately 20-30 trees that were blown down on the roadways with most being poplar or dead hardwoods. There were also some houses that were damaged from downed trees in Bruce.
June 2021Tornado (EF0)Bruce$20,000A tornado moved toward the north-northwest and struck a farm toward the end of its path. The roof of a shed was lifted up and pushed, some concrete blocks were knocked over. Siding of a house was ripped off. A few trees were downed. The starting point was based on video. Three videos were available. The damage survey of the farm was provided by a storm chaser.
April 2020HailBruce-There was a swath of large hail, the largest was hen size northeast of Ladysmith that occurred from north of Bruce, east-southeast to Hawkins. Radar data, which kept the intensity throughout the storm that moved across Rusk County was used for timing and length.
June 2018Thunderstorm WindBruce-Several power lines were blown down southwest of Ladysmith, along Strom Road.
July 2012Thunderstorm WindBruce-A few power lines were blown down near Bruce, Wisconsin.
August 2011HailBruce-Winds also gusted to 50 mph in Bruce.
May 2009HailBruce-Nickel size hail covered the ground two miles north of Bruce.
August 2008Thunderstorm WindBruce-Many trees toppled, power pole downed, and some trees blocking Highway 8.
June 2005Thunderstorm WindBruce-A tree was downed in Big Bend Township.
May 2004Thunderstorm WindBruce-A large tree blocked a road.
July 2002Thunderstorm WindBruce-Power lines down.
August 2002Thunderstorm WindBruce-Several trees down.
August 2000Thunderstorm WindBruce-Several trees toppled across road.
July 2000Thunderstorm WindBruce-Trees down.
July 2000Thunderstorm WindBruce-Large trees down.
June 1999Thunderstorm WindBruce-Trees down. Estimated windspeed.
May 1998Tornado (F0)Bruce-Trees and power lines down.
September 1997HailBruce-Tree limbs also reported down in area.
September 2024HailBruce-no account filed
July 2023HailBruce-no account filed
July 2023HailBruce-no account filed
July 2023HailBruce-no account filed
May 2022HailBruce-no account filed
June 2007HailBruce-no account filed
July 2006HailBruce-no account filed
June 2005HailBruce-no account filed
August 2005HailBruce-no account filed
August 2002HailBruce-no account filed
May 2001HailBruce-no account filed
May 2001HailBruce-no account filed
August 2000HailBruce-no account filed
July 2000HailBruce-no account filed
May 1996Thunderstorm WindBruce-no account filed
May 1996Thunderstorm WindBruce-no account filed
September 1996HailBruce-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Rusk 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.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
Apollonia1.6 miles7
Thornapple4.3 miles7
Flambeau Estates5.5 miles7
Port Arthur6.2 miles7
Rivers Edge6.5 miles7
Imalone7.0 miles8
Weyerhaeuser7.5 miles7
Ladysmith9.0 miles7

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 BruceAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q1830270The 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 1562279. 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.

Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

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.