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Our Genealogy Helper

Introduction ...

We have a couple of goals for our Gazetteer:

  • That it be a tool which helps us with planning our trips.
  • We're trying to shape our Gazetteer as a tool to help us understand the community in which our ancestors lived, the community that was part of their daily lives.
  • On our trips, we try to visit those places where our ancestors left their footprints.

By learning about Sterling (and the surrounding area) during the time that our ancestors lived, we hope to have a better understanding of both their community and its relationship to their lifes. We hope that this tool helps to give us an insight into their world.

As we add data and organize our Gazetteer to help with our family research, we will be adding to this our Genealogical Helper for Sterling. While we don't have information that is specific to any given person or family, we intend to expand our understanding about where and how people lived.

Neighboring Parishes ...

When searching for family records, we have frequently made the mistake of not checking the neighboring parishes.

For example, we have great-grandparents who lived in the southeast corner of their home parish. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals were in the next parish to the east. Almost all of the nearby churches and cemeteries were in the parish to the south.

So when searching for records, we had our best success by looking in neighboring parishes instead of the parish in which they lived:  their home parish contained property and probate records; the parish to the east contained birth and death records; the parish to the south contained their burial records. If we hadn't included the neighboring parishes, we would have missed many valuable sources of information.

If you're in a similar situation, we hope that the following information helps.

Sterling is located in Saint Mary Parish.

To see how the shape of Louisiana's parishes may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following parishes adjoin and form the boundaries of Saint Mary Parish: Iberia, Saint Martin & Terrebonne.

Below are the parishes that are near Sterling. For each of these parishes, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Sterling:

  • Saint Mary Parish     (The home parish of Sterling)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sterling, with the one closest to Sterling listed first.
    • Caffery
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
      • Caffery is located in Saint Mary Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caffery
    • Irish Bend
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Irish Bend is located in Saint Mary Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irish Bend
    • Franklin
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Katy
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Katy is located in Saint Mary Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Katy
    • Garden City
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Baldwin
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Bayou Sale
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Bayou Sale is located in Saint Mary Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayou Sale
    • Centerville
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Verdunville
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Verdunville is located in Saint Mary Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Verdunville
    • Charenton
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Todd
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Todd is located in Saint Mary Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Todd
    • Maria
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Maria is located in Saint Mary Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maria
  • Assumption Parish
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sterling, with the one closest to Sterling listed first.
    • Belle River
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Belle River is located in Assumption Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belle River
    • Pierre Part
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Attakapas Landing
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Attakapas Landing is located in Assumption Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Attakapas Landing
    • Attakapas Canal
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Attakapas Canal is located in Assumption Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Attakapas Canal
    • Upper Texas
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Upper Texas is located in Assumption Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Upper Texas
    • Bayou Crab
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Bayou Crab is located in Assumption Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayou Crab
    • Bayou Corne ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Bayou Corne is located in Assumption Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayou Corne
    • Bellewood
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Bellewood is located in Assumption Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bellewood
    • Dwight Fields
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Dwight Fields is located in Assumption Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dwight Fields
    • Grand Bayou
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Grand Bayou is located in Assumption Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand Bayou
    • Elm Hall
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Elm Hall is located in Assumption Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elm Hall
    • Brusle Saint Vincent
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Brusle Saint Vincent is located in Assumption Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brusle Saint Vincent
  • Iberia Parish
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sterling, with the one closest to Sterling listed first.
    • Jeanerette
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Patoutville
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Patoutville is located in Iberia Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Patoutville
    • Lydia
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Morbihan
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Morbihan is located in Iberia Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morbihan
    • Loreauville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • New Iberia
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Avery Island
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Derouen
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Derouen is located in Iberia Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Derouen
  • Saint Martin Parish
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sterling, with the one closest to Sterling listed first.
    • Stephenville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Stephenville is located in Saint Martin Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stephenville
    • Bayou Geneve
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Bayou Geneve is located in Saint Martin Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayou Geneve
    • Bayou Chene
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Bayou Chene is located in Saint Martin Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayou Chene
    • Coteau Holmes
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Coteau Holmes is located in Saint Martin Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coteau Holmes
    • Bankers
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Bankers is located in Saint Martin Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bankers
    • Keystone
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Keystone is located in Saint Martin Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keystone
    • Banker Plantation
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Banker Plantation is located in Saint Martin Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Banker Plantation
    • Delacroix
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Delacroix is located in Saint Martin Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delacroix
    • Isle Labbe
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Isle Labbe is located in Saint Martin Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Isle Labbe
    • Saint Martinville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Terrebonne Parish

For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Sterling, see our Parish-by-Parish Page for Sterling.

Cemeteries Near Sterling ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Sterling.

This is a new section and is likely to have errors. If you find an error, such as a missing cemetery or we have the wrong name, please let us know. If you know of them, we would also appreciate learning about previous or alternate names.

Although we don't have the information ourselves, if you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our list of websites on our Genealogy Helper Page for Sterling - one of the links might be able to help.

If not found below, our Cemetery List for Sterling covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Sterling, with the one closest to Sterling listed first.

Nearby Communities in 1895 ...

We've built the following list with information that came from an Atlas published by Rand McNally in 1895. The Atlas had details such as the population of the community (which appears to have come from the 1890 Census) and whether there was a post office and/or railroad service available. We also indicate if the community no longer exists and is now historic.<3>

While we didn't find Sterling in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Sterling.

These communities are listed based on their distance from Sterling, with the one closest to Sterling listed first.

  • Franklin
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Irish Bend
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Irish Bend is located in Saint Mary Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irish Bend
  • Bayou Sale
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Bayou Sale is located in Saint Mary Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayou Sale
  • Baldwin
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Charenton
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Ricohoc
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Ricohoc is located in Saint Mary Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ricohoc
  • Sorrel
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Sorrel is located in Saint Mary Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sorrel
  • Glencoe
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Glencoe is located in Saint Mary Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glencoe
  • Patterson
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Jeanerette
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Patoutville
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Patoutville is located in Iberia Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Patoutville
  • Berwick
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Morgan City
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Cypremort
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Cypremort is located in Saint Mary Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cypremort
    • Ramos
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Ramos is located in Saint Mary Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ramos

We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Sterling. See our List of 1890's Communities around Sterling.

Newspapers Published in Sterling ...

An ongoing effort between the Library of Congress and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has resulted in the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP).

To share their results, the partnership has created the Chronicling America website. The goal of this partnership is to assemble a database about the current and historic newspapers of the United States. This includes a growing collection of scanned images from selected papers. All of it available to the public on their website.

Using information that we've taken from the Chronicling America website, we've identified 27 newspapers that have been published in the area around Sterling.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Sterling, there are papers which were published within 19 miles [30.6 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Sterling.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we start with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These websites offer the information directly or else point to where you can find it. Their information is open to everyone.

To help you get started, the following links will take you to the pages that are relevant to Sterling:

Footnotes ...

<1>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<2>The Find-a-Grave website is an excellent research tool with information about a cemetery's location and interments. They also offer a forum for their members which can provide additional help. More information about Find-a-Grave can be found on their website: findagrave.com.
<3>We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Sterling, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Sterling) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.