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History · Sterling Township

Sterling Township’s post office opened in 1882

Most of Sterling Township was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1966. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1951 on, and the census since 1900.

1882first post office
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
4old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Sterling Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Sterling Township began

When was Sterling Township founded?

1882

The Sterling Township post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 198 in 19002020 census: 160144 years
Founding year: the first Sterling Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Sterling Township’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 4 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Sterling Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Sterling Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewSterling N. Dakota, Main Street toward …: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Sterling Township, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Sterling Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Sterling is an unincorporated community in Burleigh County, North Dakota, United States at the intersection of Interstate 94 and U.S. Route 83. Sterling is part of the "Bismarck, ND Metropolitan Statistical Area" or "Bismarck-Mandan".

Its first post office opened in 1882. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 149 to 160 (+7%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Sterling Township, 1882 to 1951

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1882Post officeThe Sterling post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1910In the archiveSterling N. Dakota, Main Street toward north
  5. 1951On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Sterling Township, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s4 items
Sterling N. Dakota, Main Street toward north1910Sterling N. Dakota, Main Street toward northAcross Main Street1910Across Main StreetAcross Main Street1910Across Main StreetSterling N. Dakota, Main Street toward south1910Sterling N. Dakota, Main Street toward south
1920s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
On the map

Sterling Township on the map, 1951 to 1975

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Sterling Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Sterling Township on the 1951 USGS mapSterling Township on the 1975 USGS map1951McKenzie sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Sterling Township.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Sterling N. Dakota, Main Street toward north
Retake this viewSterling N. Dakota, Main Street toward north, 1910

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Sterling Township’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Sterling Township, census by census

0100200190019201940196019802000Peak: 198

Between 35 and 198 people in every census since 1900.

12 censuses, 1900–2010.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Sterling Township’s Wikipedia page.

Places that used to be

Old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Sterling
Gone or out of use
Tops Airstripairport
1cemetery inside Sterling Township
Sterling Union

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Taft TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townChristiania TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townDriscoll TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMcKenzie TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Sterling Township’s history

What year was Sterling Township founded?

The Sterling Township post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From the Library of Congress (4), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.