Ringling
Photo courtesy: MTOT
St. John's Catholic Church
Photo courtesy: Montana Film Office
Ringling is located between Livingston and White Sulphur Springs. Known previously by 3 different names, Old Dorsey, New Dorsey and Leader it arrived at its present name and site by way of land acquistions of John T. Ringling. Ringling, of the Ringling Brothers Circus, arrived in Meagher County about 1910 looking for a cattle ranch and dreaming of building a railroad to connect Glacier National Park and Yellowstone National Park . In the end, however, he only managed to build a 23-mile-long line called the White Sulphur Springs & Yellowstone Park Railway Company, which connected Leader with White Sulphur Springs. To honor the man, the railroad changed the station's name from Leader to Ringling. Ringling prospered during Montana's homestead boom of the 1910s, and the railroad served as a shipping point for Smith Valley livestock and wheat, operating until 1980.(Copyright 2009, Montana Historical Society: Montana Place Names from Alzada to Zortman, Montana Historical Society Research Center Staff)
Ringling is located on Sixteenmile Creek. One of the most photographed historic churches, St. John's Catholic Church, is also located in Ringling, with a beautiful view of the Crazy Mountains in its background.
