Sterling County

Sterling County is in western Texas, bordered on the east by Coke County, on the south by Tom Green County, on the west by Reagan and Glasscock counties, and on the north by Howard and Mitchell counties. The center of the county lies at 31°50' north latitude and 101°03' west longitude, thirty-seven miles southeast of Midland. The area was named for W. S. Sterling, a buffalo hunter, rancher, and Indian fighter who may have been the first permanent settler in the area. Sterling County covers 914 square miles of the central prairie, is surrounded by hills, and drains to the North Concho River and its tributaries-Sterling, Ross, and Crystal creeks. Soils vary from sandy to black. Elevations in the area range from 2,200 to 2,600 feet above sea level. Annual rainfall averages nineteen inches. Temperatures range from an average minimum of 33° F in January to an average maximum of 95° F in July; the growing season lasts 224 days. In the 1980s 96 percent of the county's area was in farms and ranches. In the early 1980s the agricultural sector of the county's economy earned an average annual income of $7.5 million, nearly all of which was derived from beef cattle, sheep, and goats; crops such as wheat, barley, hay, and pecans were also grown in Sterling County. There is no manufacturing in the area, but oil and gas production are important to the local economy. In 1982, 2.5 million barrels of oil were produced in the county, earning $75 million, and by January 1, 1991, 286,548,000 barrels of crude had been produced in Sterling since 1947, when oil was discovered there. U.S. Highway 87 (north-south) takes residents of the county to Big Spring, while State Highway 158 (east-west) provides easy access to Midland. State Highway 163 (north-south) also runs through the county.

Adapted from the official Handbook of Texas, a state encyclopedia developed by the Texas State Historical Association (TSHA). It is an authoritative source of trusted historical records.