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History · Bruce

Bruce’s post office opened in 1883, and 50% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Solomon Walters House. Below: maps from 1968 on and the census since 1910.

1883first post office
1on the National Register
50%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Bruce began

When was Bruce founded?

1883

The Bruce post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Thoms (1883), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 262 in 19102020 census: 210143 years
Founding year: the first Bruce post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Bruce’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 are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 394 in 1940; 210 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Bruce’s homes were built before 1940.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Bruce’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Bruce’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
People over time

Bruce, census by census

0100200300400192019401960198020002020Peak: 394

Peaked at 394 in 1940; 210 people lived here in 2020.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Bruce’s Wikipedia page.

The story

How Bruce came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Bruce.

Read it all →

Bruce was originally called Lie, and under the latter name was founded in 1881. It was renamed in 1883, but the namesake is unclear. Some hold Bruce was named for the son of an early Chicago Northwestern railroad official, while others believe it was named for Blanche K. Bruce, an African-American statesman and friend of Roscoe Conkling, U.S. Senator from New York at the time.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Bruce, 1883 to 1968

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1883Post officeThe Bruce post office opens
  3. 1883Post officeThe Thoms post office opens
  4. 1883Post officeThe Thoms post office closes
  5. 20th century
  6. 1940CensusPopulation peaks at 394
  7. 1968On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Bruce, decade by decade

Today1 recent
SDMap-doton-Bruce2004SDMap-doton-Bruce
On the map

Bruce on the map, 1968 to 1985

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

Bruce on the 1968 USGS mapBruce on the 1985 USGS map1968Bruce sheet · 1:24,000

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

On the National Register

1 historic place in Bruce

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1978
Solomon Walters House
Solomon Walters House
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Victorian1
Neo-Classical1
Solomon Walters HouseVictorian

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Bruce’s post office has been open since 1883. Another post office, Thoms, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Bruce
1883–today
Thoms
1883–1883
18801950today
1cemetery inside Bruce
Elmwood

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Sterling Township2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townOakwood Township2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Bruce’s history

What year was Bruce founded?

The Bruce post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Bruce?

One place: the Solomon Walters House (listed 1978).

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 Wikimedia Commons (1), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (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.