Bruce, Minnesota

Bruce was the name of a town in Rock County, in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The townsite is now abandoned, and no trace remains.[1]

1910 Platt Map of Martin Township, Rock County, Minnesota, showing the former town of Bruce.
This 1936 ariel USDA photo is the last known photo of Bruce, Minnesota.
Text from Arthur Rose's An Illustrated History of Rock County and Pipestone County, Minnesota, Published in 1911.
Photos of Bruce, Minnesota, from Arthur Rose's An Illustrated History of Rock County and Pipestone County, Minnesota, Published in 1911.


History

Bruce was platted in May 1888 as a 16 city block town. The originally proposed name was Martin, in honor of its Martin Township, Rock County location. When settlers arrived, it was named Bruce, after a railroad official.[2] It began its life as a station on the Illinois Central Railroad. Within a year, the town boasted a hotel, a saloon, several stores, and a blacksmith shop. But the boom was short-lived. Most of its businesses and residences were physically picked up and relocated to the town of Hills when the Sioux City and Northern Railroad extended its line from Sioux City, Iowa to Garretson, South Dakota in 1890, bypassing Bruce. [3] The town faded soon afterwards, though the Post Office opened in 1888 remained in operation until 1936.[4][5] A few remaining buildings can be seen in the 1936 U.S. Department of Agriculture ariel photo to the right. The last buildings were demolished in the early 1970s and the Illinois Central tracks were torn up in 1982. What was once the burgeoning town of Bruce, Minnesota, is now a farmer's cornfield.

References
  1. GNIS Data on Bruce, Minnesota
  2. Upham, Warren (1920). Minnesota Geographic Names: Their Origin and Historic Significance. Minnesota Historical Society. p. 467.
  3. Arthur P. Rose - The History of Rock County
  4. GNIS Data on Bruce Post Office
  5. "Rock County". Jim Forte Postal History. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 6 August 2015.



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