Town file
Rulo, Nebraska
Rulo, Nebraska (Richardson County, Nebraska) is the town in one episode of Small Town Murder, the comedy true-crime podcast: episode 74, "The Imperfect Storm" (27 June 2018). Rulo sits in the far south-eastern corner of Nebraska, in Richardson County, on the Missouri River where the borders of Nebraska, Kansas and Missouri meet.
- Town
- Rulo
- County
- Richardson County
- State
- Nebraska
- Country
- USA
- Episodes
- 74
- Approximate location
- 40.052, -95.431
Episode 74 / 27 June 2018 / 161 min / full
The Imperfect Storm
"We're in Rulo, Nebraska, in far south-eastern Nebraska, Richardson County." about 0:05:52
The case: Murder of Luke Stice (March 1985); Murder of James Thim (April 1985). Read the case file.
The figures, as told in 2018
- Population
- 165
- Median age
- 49.3
- Median household income
- about $38,000
- Median home value
- $36,600
- Two-bedroom rent
- $631
- Cost of living
- 78
- Religious
- 63 percent
- Property crime
- ▼ a little bit lower than average
- Violent crime
- ▲ about 20 percent higher
History, in brief
- The first people in the area were the Pawnee, about 400 years ago. about 0:08:59
- The Indian Country Act of 1834 named the area Indian country and barred white men without a special military permit. about 0:10:55
- The Kansas-Nebraska Act opened the Nebraska Territory to settlement; it was signed by President Franklin Pierce. about 0:11:51
- The first election was in the fall of 1854, when ten votes were cast for the territorial legislature. about 0:13:43
- The first settlers were from Tennessee, followed by people from Iowa, Illinois, Missouri and New England, then Germans, Swedes and Welsh. about 0:15:40
- Rulo was laid out in 1857 and named for Charlie Rulo, born Rouleau, a French-descended hothead from Detroit. about 0:16:30
- Charlie Rulo once gave a whole city block to a stranger who sang a song he liked. about 0:17:31
- Charlie Rulo died in 1876 having squandered most of his fortune. about 0:18:34
- By 1857, 340 votes were cast in the town. about 0:19:17
- Quarries and mining dominated in the 1900s, alongside farming. about 0:19:25
- The town had 200 new homes by 1860. about 0:20:17
- The ferry across the river charged 75 cents for mules, oxen and a wagon, and another 25 cents for an extra pair of mules. about 0:20:30
- The Rouleau Bridge, a toll bridge over the Missouri River, was begun in 1933 and finished in 1939. about 0:20:54
- Trucks had wrecked the bridge by 2013 and it was too narrow for semi-trailers and farm machinery, so it was demolished in 2014 and replaced. about 0:21:08
- Richardson County had only 4,800 people, with Humboldt the biggest town at 1,003, Salem at 160, Preston at 40 and Barada at 24. about 0:21:28
The reviews read out
"Seven reviews, and it seemed to be pretty well reviewed."about 0:30:14
Nearest Small Town Murder towns
- Skidmore, Missouri25 miles
- Maryville, Missouri36 miles
- Atchison, Kansas37 miles
- Shenandoah, Iowa49 miles
- Oskaloosa, Kansas58 miles
- Cameron, Missouri67 miles
Everything here is as told in the episode, on the date it went out; figures and places may have changed since. Endings are covered: open an episode and use the spoiler switch to read them.