Map of Rulo village

Rulo is a village in Richardson County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 144 at the 2020 census.

Rulo village overview:
Name:	Rulo village
LSAD Code:	47
LSAD Description:	village (suffix)
State:	Nebraska
County:	Richardson County
Elevation:	971 ft (296 m)
Total Area:	0.63 sq mi (1.63 km²)
Land Area:	0.63 sq mi (1.63 km²)
Water Area:	0.00 sq mi (0.00 km²)
Total Population:	144
Population Density:	230/sq mi (88/km²)
ZIP code:	68431
Area code:	402
FIPS code:	3142670
GNISfeature ID:	2399140

Online Interactive Map

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Rulo online map. Source: Basemap layers from Google Map, Open Street Map (OSM), Arcgisonline, Wmflabs. Boundary Data from Database of Global Administrative Areas.

Rulo location map. Where is Rulo village?

Rulo location on the U.S. Map. Where is Rulo village. — Rulo location on the U.S. Map.

Rulo location on the Nebraska map. Where is Rulo village. — Location of Rulo in Nebraska.

History

Rulo was laid out in 1857. It was named for Charlie Rouleau, the original owner of the town site.

In 1933, the foundation for the Rulo Bridge, a toll bridge across the Missouri River, was laid. The owner of the bridge was originally John Mullen from Falls City, together with a group of investors, the “Kansas City Bridge Company”. Construction of the bridge began in 1938, after the Works Progress Administration decided to finance half the cost. The bridge was finished in 1939.

During the early 1980s, a small group of Christian Identity survivalists, led by Michael W. Ryan, began living in a religious cult located on a farm two miles north of Rulo, along the Missouri River. The farm was converted into a compound and the members of the cult would commit thefts throughout the Nebraska-Missouri-Kansas area. The stolen property would be sold in order to buy weapons and survival equipment for the group. Ryan was ultimately convicted and sentenced to death after the Nebraska State Patrol discovered that he was responsible for the torture murders of a 26-year-old cult member and a five-year-old boy. Ryan died of natural causes in prison in 2015.

In 2013, a new bridge carrying U.S. Highway 159 across the Missouri River was opened. The 1939 bridge, deemed too narrow for semi-trailers and farm machinery, was demolished in 2014.