During the Reconstruction Era following the Civil War, word soon reached the young parish near what is now Ruston, that the Vicksburg, Shreveport, and Pacific Railroad would begin to run across north Louisiana, linking the Deep South with the West (the current operator is Canadian Pacific Kansas City).

Robert Edwin Russ, the Lincoln Parish sheriff from 1877–1880, donated 640 acres (2.6 km2) to the town and the area was eventually known as Ruston in his honor.

[4] In 1883, commercial and residential lots were created and sold for $375 apiece; and soon the sawing of lumber and clacking of hammers could be heard throughout the area.

By the time the U.S. entered World War I in 1917, Ruston was established as a center for learning, a place of civic pride, and as an area of economic prosperity throughout the region.

[11] The vigilantes captured Williams and after torturing him with red-hot pokers (castration was also suspected)[12] and shooting him numerous times, he was hung from a tree.

The crime had a significant and long lasting impact on state and national politics, and can be directly related to the rise of segregationist demagoguery in the south.

This major interstate highway made Ruston more easily accessible, much as the railroad had done a century earlier.

The Arkansas Southern Railroad Company (ASRR), that became the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway (CRI&P), built a station named Chautauqua, north of Ruston that became part of the town.

[21] Celebrity Theatres, an eight-screen movie theater with digital projection and sound with 3D capabilities and stadium seating in all auditoriums, opened in Ruston in 2006.

The Louisiana Military Museum features uniforms, weapons, flags, training gear, aircraft, and vehicles from nearly every conflict in United States history.

[23] Built in 1886, the Kidd-Davis house is home to the Lincoln Parish Museum, which exhibits early Ruston history.

[25] Ruston is located in the heart of North Louisiana, known as the Sportsman's Paradise, where outdoor activities like hunting and fishing are popular for residents.

Located on the Louisiana Tech campus, Garland Gregory Hideaway Park has a seven-acre lake for fishing and canoeing, walking/running trails, pavilions, grills, ropes course, and an 18-hole frisbee golf course.

[27] As home to the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs and Lady Techsters of Conference USA, Ruston is a scene of major college sports.

[30] The Louisiana Tech Bulldogs baseball team plays at J. C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park, has won 21 regular season conference championships, and has participated in eight NCAA Tournaments.

[31] Each June, Ruston hosts its annual Peach Festival, sponsored by the Squire Creek Country Club.

[32] Railroad Fest is an annual makers, music, and culture festival held in Downtown Ruston each April since 2017.

[33] The Makers Fair is held at the Historic Ruston Fire Station, and live music is performed at the amphitheater at Railroad Park.

Located on Louisiana Tech's campus in Ruston, A. E. Phillips Laboratory School offers kindergarten through eighth grade.