Historic Sterling

After the Civil War, families from the east and south came west searching for farm land. By 1875 they had established 12 homesteads about 5 miles northeast of the present City of Sterling. In 1881, M. C. King, who had acquired 400 acres in the Sterling area, offered 80 acres at the present site to the Union Pacific Railroad in return for their building a depot, roundhouse, and hotel. When they accepted, the present town was platted. By 1883, all of the original settlers had moved to the new location and Sterling was incorporated in 1884.

NR indicates a building on the National Register of Historic Places

With the exception of the Courthouse, these are private homes or businesses. Please respect their privacy.

LOGAN COUNTY COURTHOUSE 1910
Courthouse Square - Main Street (NR)
Built at a cost of $100,000 by Kaepernik and Jenkins, it was dedicated on March 5, 1910, with a local orchestra playing in the rotunda. Paintings of early life in Logan County are displayed on the lower floor and are the work of local artist, Gene Carara. Framed linen blueprints of the building by John J. Huddart, the architect, hang on walls of the main level. Extensive restoration was done in 1984 and both the interior and the exterior are on the National Register.

I and M BUILDING 1920
223 Main Street (NR)
Built by pioneer cattleman, W. C. Harris, it was purchased while still under construction by George Henderson and named for his daughters, Isabel and Mildred. The Classical Revival style building was designed by architect Eugene G. Graves and features ornamental cast plaster ceilings and frieze moldings inside and decorative carvings and balusters on the front.

COLE HOTEL c. 1913
114 ½ Main Street
The earliest of the remaining commercial hotels has stained glass transoms, an iron balcony and decorated brickwork. In early days small frame store buildings in this area were often destroyed by fire.

UNION PACIFIC DEPOT 1903
Main and Front Streets (NR)
Purchased by the community in 1984, it was moved to this new site by truck and completely restored. Train service to Julesburg and points east began in 1881, and the depot has seen visits by Theodore Roosevelt, Herbert Hoover (who was noted to have a hole in his shoe), and Thomas Dewey.

STICKNEY BUILDING 1915
101-103 Main Street
Lee C. Stickney sold a variety of items from appliances to tires in a 5 state area. Behind this building at 120 South Front is the tire shop added in 1946, and behind that at 122 South Front was Stickney Motorcycle, built in 1901, where the business was founded

CHIPMAN-CUNNINGHAM COTTAGE AND HOUSE 1880-1910
119 and 123 S. 2^nd Street
Dr. Jacob Chipman brought his family to Sterling in the 1880s and built the small Victorian house as their first home. He built the larger house in 1910, using the bricks from the old Courthouse in the foundation walls. These homes have been owned and occupied by five generations of the same family.

OLD MASONIC TEMPLE 1908
114-116 N. 2^ND Street
This large Neo-classical building served the Masonic Lodge, which had been founded in 1883 and originally met on the second floor of the Propst Store. Organizers from Greeley traveled two days by horse and buckboard to attend the early meetings.

WATHENA MERCANTILE 1896
121 N. 2^nd Street
The only concrete slump block façade in the downtown area was the home of A. H. Pettit and Company, when in 1899 it became the site of the town's only gunfight. Pettit apparently insulted W. H. (Buck) Cheairs' wife. This led to a confrontation in Pettit's store and his death. Cheairs was convicted and imprisoned.

OLD CITY HALL 1912
214 Poplar Street
It was built by William Kaepernik at a cost of $13,208 and served as City Hall and fire station until 1976. The architect was John Huddart, who also designed the Courthouse. The exterior is original and the interior has been restored or appropriately remodeled.