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History · Bruce Township

Half of Bruce Township’s homes were built after 1983

Most of Bruce Township was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1983. Below: maps from 1950 on.

0on the National Register
8%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory

What stands out about Bruce Township’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Bruce Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Bruce Township, and 1 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Bruce Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Bruce Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Burnhamsville
1869–1877
Pillsbury
1877–1908
Bear Head
1878–1879
18601940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Pillsbury
Gone or out of use
Pillsbury Post Officepost office
1cemetery inside Bruce Township
Bearhead

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

The story

How Bruce Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Bruce Township.

Read it all →

Bruce Township was named for Robert the Bruce, King of the Scots. The name was suggested by Bruce township resident George Balmer, a Scotsman and Todd County Commissioner.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Bruce Township, 1869 to 1950

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1869Post officeThe Burnhamsville post office opens
  3. 1877Post officeThe Burnhamsville post office closes
  4. 1877Post officeThe Pillsbury post office opens
  5. 1878Post officeThe Bear Head post office opens
  6. 1879Post officeThe Bear Head post office closes
  7. 20th century
  8. 1908Post officeThe Pillsbury post office closes
  9. 1950On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your album
On the map

Bruce Township on the map, 1950 to 1978

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Bruce Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Bruce Township on the 1950 USGS mapBruce Township on the 1978 USGS map1950Swanville sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Bruce Township.

Famous people

Famous people close to Bruce Township

Nobody well known was born in Bruce Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
J
Joanne FlukeAmerican writer (c. 1943 -) · b. 1943
L
LaVyrle SpencerAmerican writer · b. 1943
G
Gail T. KulickAmerican politician · b. 1959
Joyce PeppinAmerican politician · b. 1970
Lew DrillAmerican baseball player · b. 1877
I
Isaac SchultzAmerican politician · b. 1991
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Burnhamville TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLittle Elk TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLong Prairie TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCuldrum TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Bruce Township’s history

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.