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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 Counties ...

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

For example, we have great-grandparents who lived in the northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals were in the next county to the west. Almost all of the nearby churches and cemeteries were in the county to the north.

So when searching for records, we had our best success by looking in neighboring counties instead of the county in which they lived:  their home county contained property and probate records; the county to the west contained birth and death records; the county to the north contained their burial records. If we hadn't included the neighboring counties, 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 Madison County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Madison County: Fremont (ID), Beaverhead, Gallatin, Jefferson & Silver Bow.

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

  • Madison County     (The home county of Sterling)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sterling, with the one closest to Sterling listed first.
    • Norris
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Red Bluff
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Red Bluff is located in Madison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Bluff
    • McAllister
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Harrison
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Pony ‑ Historic
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Strawberry ‑ Historic
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Strawberry is located in Madison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Strawberry
    • Mammoth
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Mammoth is located in Madison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mammoth
    • Ennis
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Ennis is located in Madison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ennis
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,042 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ennis <1>
    • Central City ‑ Historic
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Central City is located in Madison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Central City
    • Nevada City ‑ Historic
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Virginia City
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Virginia City is located in Madison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Virginia City
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 225 people
      • Former names for Virginia City:
      • Varina
      • Verina
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Virginia City <1>
    • Jefferson Island
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Jefferson Island is located in Madison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jefferson Island
  • Broadwater County
    • Copper City
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Copper City is located in Broadwater County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Copper City
  • Gallatin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sterling, with the one closest to Sterling listed first.
    • Willow Creek
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Arnold
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Arnold is located in Gallatin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arnold
    • Three Forks
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Amsterdam - Churchill
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Amsterdam - Churchill is located in Gallatin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amsterdam - Churchill
    • Amsterdam
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Churchill
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Churchill is located in Gallatin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Churchill
    • Gallatin Gateway
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Big Sky
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Four Corners
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Four Corners is located in Gallatin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Four Corners
    • Manhattan
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Big Sky Meadow Village
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Jefferson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sterling, with the one closest to Sterling listed first.
    • Cardwell
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Piedmont
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Piedmont is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Piedmont
    • Whitehall
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)

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

  • Red Bluff Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • McAllister Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McAllister Cemetery
    • The McAllister Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Meadow Creek Cemetery
  • Valley View Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley View Cemetery
    • The Valley View Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Pony Cemetery
  • Harrison Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Black Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Evans Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
  • Sappington Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
  • Ennis Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
  • Madison Valley Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
  • Stateler Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
  • South Boulder Cemetery
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
  • Mt. Green Cemetery
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mt. Green Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Mt. Green Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the north of Willow Creek.
    • The Mt. Green Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Willow Creek Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #21006 <2>
  • Continue List   (22 more) ...
    • Nevada City Cemetery
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Boothill Cemetery
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Virginia City Cemetery
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)

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.

  • Norris
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Red Bluff
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Red Bluff is located in Madison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Bluff
  • Pony ‑ Historic
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Harrison
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Ennis
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Ennis is located in Madison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ennis
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,042 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ennis <1>
  • Willow Creek
    (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
  • Virginia City
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Virginia City is located in Madison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Virginia City
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 225 people
    • Former names for Virginia City:
    • Varina
    • Verina
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Virginia City <1>
  • Jefferson Island
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jefferson Island is located in Madison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jefferson Island
  • Sheridan
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
  • Laurin ‑ Historic
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Laurin is located in Madison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laurin
  • Three Forks
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
  • Cameron
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Whitehall
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Silver Star
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Logan
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Logan is located in Gallatin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Logan

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 32 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 28 miles [45.1 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 begin with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These websites either 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'.