Sterling was founded in 1873, but it was not until the arrival of the Union Pacific Railroad in 1887 that the community began to grow. The construction of a Great Western Sugar Refinery in 1905 brought many Volga German immigrants to Sterling.
Many of the Catholic Volga Germans came from Pfeifer to settle in Sterling. In addition Volga Germans from Dietel, Grimm, Holstein, Nieder-Monjou, Rothammel, Schilling, Sewald, and Unterdorf settled in the area.
Volga German families known to have settled in and around Sterling include:
Albrandt
Altenhof from Rosental
Amen from Frank
Appelhans from Rothammel
Arnhold from Beauregard
Artzer from Sewald
Bahl from Kamenka
Barnhardt
Baumgarten from Anton
Bellendir from Köhler
Bersch from Mariental
Bob from Göbel
Brecht from Schöntal
Breit from Pfeifer
Bretz from Köhler
Brotzman from Huck
Deines from Franzosen
Dermer from Konstantinovka
Desendorf from Katharinenstadt
Detzel
Devie from Husaren
Dillie from Sewald
Ditter from Frank
Dreiling from Herzog
Dumler from Grimm
Els
Ertle from Volmer
Foos from Dietel
Frank from Frank
Fritzler from Grimm
Gareis from Köhler
Gasner from Brabander
Gerk from Josefstal
Gertge from Rothammel
Gertner from Volmer
Getz from Herzog
Grauberger from Dietel
Grosch from Grimm
Haberkorn from Göbel & Mariental
Heimbegner from Frank
Henkel from Jost
Herrmann from Liebental
Hershfeldt / Hirschfeld from Pfeifer
Hessler from Norka
Hettinger from Dietel
Hochnadel from Schuck
Kaiser from Marienfeld
Kaltenberger from Grimm
Kanzler from Kolb
Kaufman from Frank & Konstantinovka
Kautz from Dietel
Kautz from Merkel
Keil from Katharinental
Keller
Kerbel from Grimm
Kildau
Kippes from Pfeifer
Klein
Klippert
Kloberdanz from Rothammel
Klug from Köhler
Knaub
Koehler from Beideck
Komlofske from Husaren
Kraft
Kurtz from Neu-Dönhof
Lambrecht from Marienfeld
Lang from Kamenka
Lapp from Frank
Lauer from Rothammel
Lechman from Rothammel
Lederhos from Rohleder
Lenhart from Frank
Lienweber
Linenberger from Herzog
Lohr
Loos from Marienfeld
Luft from Konstantinovka
Maier
Manweiler
Mari / Marie from Sewald
Marsch from Neu-Messer
Matza from Rothammel
Meiers from Louis
Meisner from Grimm
Michel from Dietel
Mildenberger
Miller from Dietel, Frank, & Walter
Nahm from Hölzel
Naibauer from Hoffental
Ott
Pfanenstiel from Ober-Monjou
Piefer / Pfeifer from Herzog & Pfeifer
Popp
Propp from Hussenbach
Quint from Louis
Reigenborn from Köhler
Reisch
Reiter from Kautz
Reitz
Rieb from Nieder-Monjou
Ring
Rohleder from Rohleder
Rosenoff from Kolb
Roth from Grimm
Roth from Katharinental
Rothammel
Rutz
Sander from Herzog
Savolt from Husaren
Schadt from Schilling
Schaefer from Nieder-Monjou
Schaller
Scheck from Herzog
Schell from Sewald
Schenfeld from Marienfeld
Scheuerman
Schick from Grimm
Schiefelbein from Husaren
Schiel from Göbel
Schimpf from Alexanderdorf (North Caucasus)
Schivelbein from Husaren
Schneider from Göbel
Schönberg
Schott from Grimm
Schmick
Schwab from Sewald
Schwarz
Schwerdt from Kamenka
Sevalt from Husaren
Siebel from Grimm
Sinner from Konstantinovka
Sommer / Sommers from Pfeifer
Stang from Volmer
Steinbach from Sewald
Steinmiller from Frank
Stieben
Stoppel from Nieder-Monjou
Stumpf from Warenburg
Trumheller from Konstantinovka
Uhrich from Frank
Usinger
Wacker
Wagner
Walker
Walters from Katharinenstadt
Waltz from Beideck
Wamboldt
Wegner
Weinbender from Köhler
Weingardt
Weltz / Welz from Katharinenstadt
Werner
Willmann
Windholz from Herzog
Wohn / Vohn from Rothammel
Wuckert from Grimm
Younger from Herzog
Ziegler from Köhler
Zink from Marienfeld
Zwetzig
- Sallet, Richard. Russian-German Settlement in the United States (Fargo, ND: North Dakota Institute for Regional Studies, 1974): 61.
- USA Settlement List (Patricia Miller)
- 1920 Federal Census of Logan County
- Riverside Cemetery (FindAGrave)
- Riverside Cemetery (USGenWeb)
Sterling, Colorado (Wikipedia)
Sterling Sugar Beet Days (1919).
Beet Factory in Sterling (1919).