Sterling Methodist Church

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.

From the record

“The Sterling Methodist Church is a church in rural Brookings County, South Dakota. It was built in 1895 in Sterling Township for the Congregation of the German Methodist Episcopal Church of Sterling Township of Dakota Territory.”
Wikipedia article Sterling Methodist Church, CC BY-SA 4.0.

One of 44 National Register listings published here for Brookings County · listed in 1989 · category: Building.

Sources: the Wikipedia article · the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service

The listing

What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 1 building as contributing to the listing.
Address. US 77, 5 mi. E of Bruce, Bruce, 57006
When was it listed? October 1989
Category. building
Township. Sterling township
National Register reference number. 89001723 - the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.

Fires near this property

26 since 1999

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 26 fires within 5 miles of Sterling Methodist Church between 1999 and 2016, burning about 235 acres in total. 1 started naturally. None was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause	Fires
Debris and open burning	9
Missing data/not specified/undetermined	8
Equipment and vehicle use	4
Fireworks	2
Power generation/transmission/distribution	1
Natural	1
Smoking	1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

Date	Cause	Size	Reported by	Name on the report
30 September 2011	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression	HAYLAND
29 September 1999	Equipment and vehicle use	under an acre	Brookings County	MOM
14 July 2003	Fireworks	under an acre	South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression	not named
29 June 2008	Natural	under an acre	South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression	not named
3 May 2005	Debris and open burning	1.5 acres	South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression	not named
17 May 2000	Fireworks	under an acre	Brookings County	ULLMAN
14 May 2008	Debris and open burning	74 acres	South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression	not named
8 April 2016	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression	MM139

Every fire recorded in Brookings County

Storms near this property

60 of 113 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Bruce, the town this property stands in, in 113 storm reports between 1995 and 2025: 67 flood, 27 hail, 14 thunderstorm wind, 3 tornado. The reports record 3 injuries. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

When	Event	Place named	Harm	What the report says
July 2010	Thunderstorm Wind	Bruce	3 hurt, $40,000	Thunderstorm winds caused widespread tree damage at Oakwood Lakes State Park. A few vehicles were damaged by tree debris, a boat landing was damaged, and a camper was overturned, resulting in minor injuries.
April 2011	Flood	Bruce	$500,000	Major flooding of the Big Sioux River, as well as flooding of lakes and lowlands in the county, continued through April, though small stream flooding abated. Much farmland remained flooded, both near to and away from the Big Sioux River. Flooding around the south end of Lake Pointsett in the northwest part of the county continued in particular to be damaging. The Big Sioux River crested at 3 feet above flood stage near Brookings on April 6th. Some roads remained closed by the flooding for part of the month. Water was running over other roads, from flooded lowlands, lakes, and the Big Sioux River. Some roads were heavily damaged. Some homes and businesses were still flooded. High water and groundwater levels from record precipitation in the year 2010, a main reason the flooding onset was so fast in March, was also a main reason that the flooding subsided so slowly during April.
June 1997	Hail	Bruce	$50,000	Large hail devastated thousands of acres of corn and soybean crops, broke windows, and damaged siding. The hail fell over most of the northern half of Brookings County.
July 2020	Thunderstorm Wind	Bruce	$5,000	A large tent was blown over by outflow winds. Property damage costs are rough estimates.
July 2000	Lightning	Bruce	$5,000	Lightning struck and damaged a tree, and debris from the tree damaged the wall of a home. The force of the lightning strike also broke 6 windows in the home.
September 1997	Thunderstorm Wind	Bruce	$5,000	Thunderstorm winds destroyed a pole barn and damaged trees over a small area.
August 2020	Thunderstorm Wind	Bruce	$3,000	Scattered tree damage was reported in Bruce. Property damage costs are rough estimates.
October 2019	Flood	Bruce	$2,500	After rainfall on October 20-21 which totaled 1.48 inches at Clear Lake, 0.64 inches at Castlewood, and 0.57 inches at Bruce, the Big Sioux River near Bruce (gage site BRCS2) crested on October 24 at 0.15 feet above flood stage, resulting in minor flooding of agricultural land. Property damage costs are rough estimates.
August 2025	Flood	Bruce	-	The Big Sioux River near Estelline rose above flood stage on the afternoon of August 6th, cresting around 0.47 feet above flood stage (1644.47 ft) on August 8th. The river then fell below flood stage on the evening of August 10th.
August 2025	Flood	Bruce	-	The Big Sioux River near Bruce rose above flood stage on the evening of August 7th, cresting around 0.47 feet above flood stage (8.47 ft) on August 8th. The river then fell below flood stage on the morning of August 11th.
June 2025	Flood	Bruce	-	Big Sioux River near Estelline rose above flood stage the morning of June 29th, cresting around 3.03 feet above flood stage (1647.03 feet) on June 30th. This crest is in the Moderate category. The river stayed above flood stage into early July.
June 2025	Flood	Bruce	-	Big Sioux River near Bruce rose above flood stage the morning of June 29th, cresting around 1.70 feet above flood stage (9.70 feet) on June 30th. The river stayed above flood stage into early July.
July 2025	Flood	Bruce	-	The Big Sioux River near Estelline rose above flood stage on the morning of July 28th, cresting around 2.15 feet above flood stage (1646.15 ft) later that day. This is in the moderate category. The river stayed above flood stage into early August.
July 2025	Flood	Bruce	-	The Big Sioux River near Estelline continued above flood stage from June. The river then fell below flood stage on the afternoon of July 4th.
July 2025	Flood	Bruce	-	The Big Sioux River near Bruce continued above flood stage from June, further rising to a crest around 2.49 feet above flood stage (10.49 feet). The river then fell below flood stage during the early morning of July 6th.
July 2025	Flood	Bruce	-	The Big Sioux River near Bruce rose above flood stage on the morning of July 29th, cresting around 1.59 feet above flood stage (9.59 ft) on July 31st. The river stayed above flood stage into early August.
August 2025	Flood	Bruce	-	The Big Sioux River near Bruce rose above flood stage on the evening of August 18th, cresting around 2.22 feet above flood stage (10.22 ft) on August 20th. This crest is in the moderate flood category. The river remained above flood stage into September.
August 2025	Flood	Bruce	-	The Big Sioux River near Estelline continued above flood stage from July. The river then fell below flood stage on the morning of August 3rd.
August 2025	Flood	Bruce	-	The Big Sioux River near Bruice continued above flood stage from July. The river then fell below flood stage on the morning of August 4th.
August 2025	Flood	Bruce	-	The Big Sioux River near Estelline rose above flood stage on the morning of August 17th, cresting around 2.53 feet above flood stage (1646.53 ft) on August 19th. This crest is in the moderate flood category. The river then fell below flood stage on the morning of August 28th.
June 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Bruce	-	Thunderstorm wind gusts brought a large tree limb down on powerlines.
September 2025	Flood	Bruce	-	The Big Sioux River near Bruce rose above flood stage on the morning of September 18th, cresting around 0.79 feet above flood stage (8.79 ft) on the 19th. The river fell below flood stage during the early morning on September 20th.
June 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Bruce	-	The Otter Tail Power Company reported several power poles were broken/down along 206th Street between 463rd and 464th Avenue.
April 2023	Flood	Bruce	-	The Big Sioux River near Bruce, SD rose above flood stage on the morning of April 10th before cresting around 2.43 feet above flood stage (10.43 feet) on April 11th, which is in the Moderate category. The river then fell below flood stage on the morning of April 26th. The river was above Minor flood stage at this location for 16 days and above Moderate flood stage for 6 days.
April 2023	Flood	Bruce	-	The Big Sioux River near Estelline rose above flood stage during the early morning of April 11th before cresting around 2.34 feet above flood stage (1646.34 feet) on April 12th, which is in the Moderate category. The river then fell below flood stage in the early afternoon on April 24th. The river was above Minor flood stage at this location for 14 days and above Moderate stage for 4 days.
September 2023	Tornado (EFU)	Bruce	-	Multiple storm chasers witnessed a tornado develop in an open field south of 202nd Street and west of 470th Avenue. The tornado tracked very slowly north-northeast with the track defined by field debris circulating near the surface. The tornado lifted just west of 470th Avenue around one-half mile north of 202nd Street. The average path width was estimated at 15 yards with a maximum width of 20 yards. However, the lack of damage indicators did not allow for a rating of this tornado.
September 2023	Tornado (EFU)	Bruce	-	Multiple storm chasers reported development of swirling debris at the surface below a funnel cloud north of 205th Street and east of 468th Avenue around 3 miles east-southeast of Bruce. Debris was witnessed near the surface as the slow-moving tornado tracked for a few minutes northeast through an open field. The tornado lifted just south of 204th Street. The average path width was estimated at 15 yards with a maximum width of 20 yards. However, the lack of damage indicators did not allow for a rating of this tornado.
September 2023	Tornado (EFU)	Bruce	-	A storm chaser witnessed a very brief touchdown in an open soybean field between 470th and 471st Avenue and 199th and 200th Street. The lack of damage indicators did not allow for a rating of this tornado.
May 2022	Flood	Bruce	-	An average of 1 to 1.5 inches of rainfall on May 30 across northeast and east central South Dakota resulted in a return to minor flood stage for the Big Sioux River near Estelline (gage site BSES2). A crest of 0.21 feet above flood stage was reached late on May 31. Small tracts of agricultural land succumbed to minor flooding. Minor flooding continued at the end of the month.
August 2022	Thunderstorm Wind	Bruce	-	Numerous one to two-inch branches were downed by thunderstorm winds. Crop damage is an estimate from insured losses. Information provided by the United States Department of Agriculture.
May 2022	Flood	Bruce	-	As runoff from rainfall of 2 to 3 inches across northeast South Dakota was routed downstream, the Big Sioux River near Bruce (gage site BRCS2) climbed into minor flood stage on May 13, and crested 0.24 feet above flood stage on May 14. The river fell below flood stage on May 15. Small tracts of agricultural land succumbed to minor flooding.
May 2022	Flood	Bruce	-	As runoff from rainfall of 2 to 3 inches across northeast South Dakota was routed downstream, the Big Sioux River near Estelline (gage site BSES2) climbed into minor flood stage and crested 0.43 feet above flood stage on May 13. The river fell below flood stage on May 14. Small tracts of agricultural land succumbed to minor flooding.
June 2022	Flood	Bruce	-	Minor flooding was ongoing at the start of June 2022 on the Big Sioux River near Bruce (gage site BRCS2), with a crest at 0.31 feet above flood stage on June 1. The river fell below flood stage on June 4. A significant amount of rural land was flooded.
June 2022	Flood	Bruce	-	Minor flooding was ongoing at the start of June 2022 on the Big Sioux River near Estelline (gage site BSES2), but quickly fell below flood stage on June 1. A minor amount of rural land was flooded.
March 2020	Flood	Bruce	-	The Big Sioux River near Bruce (gage site BRCS2) returned to flood late month. The river crested 0.78 feet above flood stage on March 30, following the addition of rainfall of 0.33 inches 4 miles northeast of Bruce and 0.29 inches at Bruce. Minor agricultural flooding near the river was the greatest impact. The river remained at minor flood stage at the end of the month.
March 2020	Flood	Bruce	-	The Big Sioux River near Bruce (gage site BRCS2) crested 0.52 feet above flood stage on March 15. Minor agricultural flooding near the river was the greatest impact.
March 2020	Flood	Bruce	-	The Big Sioux River near Estelline (gage site BSES2) crested 0.33 feet above flood stage on March 14. Significant flooding of agricultural lands occurred near the river.
March 2020	Flood	Bruce	-	With rainfall of 0.91 inches 2 miles south southeast of Astoria and 0.43 inches near White, the Big Sioux River near Estelline (gage site BSES2) returned to flood at the end of the month. The river crested 0.38 feet above flood stage on March 29, flooding agricultural land near the river. Minor flooding continued at the end of the month.
April 2020	Flood	Bruce	-	A continuation of flooding from March, the Big Sioux River near Estelline (gage site BSES2) moved briefly above flood stage early in the month. Then, after dropping briefly below flood stage on April 3, the river rose back above flood stage on April 6 and crested 0.09 feet above flood stage on April 7. Impacts were limited to significant flooding of crop and pasture land.
April 2020	Flood	Bruce	-	A continuation of flooding from March, the Big Sioux River near Bruce (gage site BRCS2) began the month 0.53 feet above flood stage. The river maintained a slow and steady fall through early April with mainly minor agricultural flooding near the river.
August 2019	Flood	Bruce	-	A continuation of flooding from July, the Big Sioux River near Bruce (gage site BRCS2) started the month at 0.53 feet above flood stage with flooding of agricultural land.
June 2019	Flood	Bruce	-	The Big Sioux River near Estelline (gage site BSES2) crested 0.41 feet above flood stage on June 28, causing significant flooding of crop and pasture land.
June 2019	Flood	Bruce	-	A continuation of flooding from May, the Big Sioux River near Estelline (gage site BSES2) began the month at 1.45 feet above flood stage. Significant amounts of agricultural land remained flooded, and further impeded spring planting.
June 2019	Flood	Bruce	-	A continuation of flooding from May, the Big Sioux River near Bruce (gage site BRCS2) began the month at 1.59 feet above flood stage. Significant amounts of agricultural land remained flooded, and further impeded spring planting.
June 2019	Flood	Bruce	-	The Big Sioux River near Bruce (gage site BRCS2) crested 0.49 feet above flood stage on June 28, causing significant flooding of crop and pasture land.
November 2019	Flood	Bruce	-	Law enforcement confirmed that ice development on the Big Sioux River piled up on several bridges near the gage site and caused minor lowland flooding. The Big Sioux River near Estelline (gage site BSES2) reached minor flood stage and crested at 1.20 feet above flood stage on November 13.
July 2019	Flood	Bruce	-	North Deer Creek above Brookings (gage site NDCS2) crested 0.12 feet above flood stage on July 10, resulting in brief, but significant, flooding of agricultural lands near the creek.
July 2019	Flood	Bruce	-	The Big Sioux River near Estelline (gage site BSES2) crested at moderate levels 2.22 feet above flood stage on July 10 and again 1.83 feet above flood stage on July 16, causing significant flooding of crop and pasture land. Minor flooding continued at the end of the month.
July 2019	Flood	Bruce	-	The Big Sioux River near Bruce (gage site BRCS2) returned quickly to flood stage to start the month. Much of the month was spent at moderate flood stage, with a crest 1.81 feet above flood stage on July 3, followed by the fifth highest crest on record at 2.55 feet above flood stage on July 11. Significant flooding of crop and pasture land occurred throughout the month, and several county roads were inundated by water. Minor flooding continued at the end of the month.
August 2019	Flood	Bruce	-	A continuation of flooding from July, the Big Sioux River near Estelline (gage site BSES2) started the month at 0.35 feet above flood stage, with inundation of crop and pasture land.
March 2019	Flood	Bruce	-	Snow melt and heavy rainfall (measured 1.74 inches 5 miles west of Bruce) resulted in extensive flooding of agricultural land. The Big Sioux River near Estelline (gage site BSES2) reached the highest crest on record of 2.90 feet above flood stage on March 28. The river remained at moderate flood stage at the end of the month.
March 2019	Flood	Bruce	-	Snow melt and heavy rainfall (measured 1.69 inches at Bruce) resulted in extensive flooding of agricultural land and inundation of numerous county roads. The Big Sioux River near Bruce (gage site BRCS2) reached the second highest crest on record of 2.86 feet above flood stage on March 28. The river remained at moderate flood stage at the end of the month.
August 2019	Flood	Bruce	-	The Big Sioux River near Estelline (gage site BSES2) crested at 0.28 feet above flood stage on August 20. Significant amounts of agricultural land were flooded.
August 2019	Flood	Bruce	-	The Big Sioux River near Bruce (gage site BRCS2) crested 0.24 feet above flood stage with flooding of agricultural land.
May 2019	Flood	Bruce	-	This is a continuation of flooding from April. The Big Sioux River near Bruce (gage site BRCS2) spent the entire month in moderate flood stage. The highest stage, cresting 2.02 feet above flood stage, occurred on May 1 with slightly lower crests on May 11 and May 25. Significant agricultural flooding persisted, with no opportunity for spring planting throughout the flood plain. The river remained at moderate flood stage at the end of the month.
May 2019	Flood	Bruce	-	This is a continuation of flooding from April. The Big Sioux River near Estelline (gage site BSES2) spent the entire month in flood stage, with a pair of crests into moderate flood stage during the month. The first crest 1.83 feet above flood stage occurred on May 9, with a second crest spurred by late month rains at 1.70 feet above flood stage. Significant agricultural flooding persisted, with no opportunity for spring planting throughout the flood plain. The river remained at minor flood stage at the end of the month.
December 2019	Flood	Bruce	-	Snow melt in the upper portions of the Big Sioux river basin pushed water levels near Bruce (gage site BRCS2) into minor flood stage, with a crest of 1.21 feet above flood stage on December 14. The stage was affected by small ice jams, but impacts were minimal with only minor flooding of agricultural land.
September 2019	Flood	Bruce	-	Runoff from around two days of heavy rainfall (3.49 inches 5 miles west of Bruce and 2.76 inches at Bruce) returned moderate flooding to the Big Sioux River near Bruce (gage site BRCS2). The river crested at 1.68 feet above flood stage on September 14 with significant flooding of agricultural land.
September 2019	Flood	Bruce	-	After upstream rainfall during September 10-12 of 3.12 inches 4 miles southwest of Toronto and 2.35 inches near Castlewood, the Big Sioux River near Estelline (gage site BSES2) reached a crest of 1.04 feet above flood stage on September 13. High water resulted in widespread flooding of agricultural lands.
April 2019	Flood	Bruce	-	Runoff from occasional precipitation in late March and April maintained moderate flooding of agricultural and pasture lands near the Big Sioux River. The Big Sioux River near Estelline (gage site BSES2) crested twice during the month. The first crest was 1.93 feet above flood stage on April 1, with a second crest at 2.16 feet above flood stage on April 19. Moderate flooding continued at the end of the month.

Every storm recorded in Brookings County

Map coverage status

No historic map-sheet match is published for this property yet. That does not mean no map exists. This record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary. Browse the county's mapped places while that work is pending.

Listed places nearby

4 within 8 miles

Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.

Property	Distance	Listed
Solomon Walters House	5.3 miles	1978
Herman F. Micheel Gothic Arched-Roof Barn	5.4 miles	1991
South Dakota Department of Transportation Bridge No. 06-129-020	5.8 miles	1999
Intermill House	6.9 miles	1997

Sources for this property

National Archives record	The nomination case file for reference 89001723 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia article	Community-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Brookings County	All 44 listed properties in this county.

Provenance

Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.