Sturgis City Map Poster

About Sturgis

Sturgis was founded in 1878. It is named after Civil War general Samuel D. Sturgis, who led the 7th Cavalry Regiment during the Battle of Little Bighorn and died there on June 25, 1876. The town was originally called "Cedar Valley" but renamed to avoid confusion with Cedar City, Utah; it had a population of 1,000 by 1890 and 2,500 by 1900. In 1893 it became county seat for Meade County (named after George Custer's General George Armstrong Custer). The city has been noted for its unusual place name since at least 1917 when Haldeman-Julius published an article about it in "The American Mercury". According to local legend this is because early settlers could not pronounce or spell either Meade or Cedar correctly so they decided upon Sturgis as being easier to say than any other alternative names that were suggested at the time (the same story also claims that both names are derived from nearby geographic features: Mount Meadesbury and Big Stone Lake respectively).