Bruce, Minnesota

Bruce was the name of a town in Rock County, Minnesota,USA. The townsite is now abandoned, and no trace remains.

1910 Platt Map of Martin Township, Rock County, Minnesota, showing the former town of Bruce.

This 1936 aerial USDA photo is the last known photo of Bruce, Minnesota.

Photos of Bruce, Minnesota, from Arthur Rose's An Illustrated History of Rock County and Pipestone County, Minnesota, Published in 1911.

History

The town of Bruce was platted in May 1888 as a 16 city block town. The originally proposed name was Martin, in honor of Martin Township. When settlers arrived, it was named Bruce, after a railroad official. The town began primarily as the home of a station on the Illinois Central Railroad. During its first year, the town contained a hotel, a saloon, several stores, and a blacksmith shop, but the boom of activity was short-lived. Most of the town's businesses and residences were 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. The town faded soon afterwards, though the Post Office opened in 1888 remained in operation until 1936. A few remaining buildings can be seen in the 1936 U.S. Department of Agriculture's aerial photo to the right. The last buildings were demolished in the early 1970s and the Illinois Central tracks were removed in 1982. The area which was once Bruce, Minnesota, is now a farmer's cornfield.

External links

• HomeTownLocator Map of Bruce, Minnesota
• An Illustrated History of the Counties of Rock and Pipestone, Minnesota
• Vanished Towns of Rock County