Most of Sterling City was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1982. Its Register listing is the Sterling City Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Railway Passenger Depot. Below: 2 old photos and papers from 1880 on.
Founding year: the first Sterling City post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Sterling City’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Sterling City is more historic than 37% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Sterling City’s overall grade.
Few Texas towns list much on the Register (a typical Texas town has 0.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Sterling City’s 8.0 sits above most of its state (85% of Texas towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.8 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Sterling City’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Sterling City was named for W.S. Sterling, a buffalo hunter and Indian fighter. Land for the new town was donated in January 1891 by R.C. Stewart, and was platted by H.B. Tarver in February. That same year, it was designated the seat of Sterling County. The town soon grew to 300 residents and had its own newspaper, a hotel, a post office, several other businesses, a school, and three churches.
Sterling City was a stop on the Santa Fe Railroad by 1910, but the service was eventually abandoned. The depot still exists as a tourist site.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Questions about Sterling City’s history
What year was Sterling City founded?
The Sterling City post office opened in 1899, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Sterling City rank for history?
Sterling City is more historic than 37% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in Sterling City?
One place: the Sterling City Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Railway Passenger Depot (listed 2020).
How old are the homes in Sterling City?
3% of Sterling City’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.8 points), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 1982.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikimedia Commons (6), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
1880
1880
2011
2011
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2004