Bruce, MS

Bruce grew beside the Skuna River as a timber town tied to E.L. Bruce Hardwood, the company that gave the community its name and built the local mill economy. Mississippi Highway 9 runs through the center, linking Bruce with Pittsboro to the south, Calhoun City, and Pontotoc. The 2020 census counted 1,707 residents. Timber remains part of the town's identity, but the river town has long carried schools, stores, and civic groups alongside the mills.

That history comes back into the open each June at the Sawmill Festival, when the square fills with vendors, food, music, a car show, a 5K, lumberjack contests, and fireworks. The Square Theater hosts festival events, and proceeds have helped restore the town museum. Bruce High School is part of the Calhoun County School District, while the public library, city hall, and nearby Skuna River corridor keep daily life centered close to the old commercial core. Bruce's story is a timber-town one, but its present-day rhythm belongs to a community that has made the mill history its annual gathering point.