Sterling City: One County, One Town

Sterling City is the only incorporated town in Sterling County, which makes it the county seat by default and the sole population center of one of the least-populated counties in Texas. The Texas Legislature carved Sterling County out of Tom Green County in March eighteen ninety-one, and Sterling City became the county seat four months later. It was named for W.

S. Sterling, a buffalo hunter and Indian fighter who ranged through this country before the settlers arrived. The townsite was donated by R.

C. Stewart, surveyed and platted in February eighteen ninety-one, and by eighteen ninety-six had three hundred residents and eight businesses. The Santa Fe Railroad arrived in nineteen ten, stayed for a while, and eventually discontinued service.

Sterling County remains largely open rangeland today, cattle country at its most uninterrupted, with Sterling City serving as the single fixed point around which everything else orbits.