Ruso was founded and named on July 17, 1906, and named either after a Russian word meaning "south of us" or from the first two letters in both of the words "South Russia" by an agent who brought in immigrants from Russia. Ruso was incorporated as a city on July 7, 1909.
In 2018 Ruso was at risk of being unincorporated after the death of its mayor, Bruce Lorenz, brought it down to two residents. North Dakota Century Code requires that an incorporated city have at least three council members. However, two new residents built a house in Ruso, doubling its population. One of those residents, Greg Schmaltz, became the new mayor and prevented the town from being unincorporated.
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 Wikimedia Commons (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.
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