Sterling County, Texas

Sterling County, Texas
Sterling County Court House off U.S. Highway 87 in Sterling City
Location in the state of Texas
Texas's location in the U.S.
Founded	1891
Seat	Sterling City
Area  - Total  - Land  - Water	923 sq mi (2,391 km²) 923 sq mi (2,391 km²) , 0.01%
Population  - (2010)  - Density	1,143 3/sq mi (1/km²)

Sterling County is a county located on the Edwards Plateau in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2010 census, its population was 1,143. Its county seat is Sterling City. The county is named for W. S. Sterling, an early settler in the area. Sterling County is one of 30 prohibition, or entirely dry, counties in the state of Texas.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 923 square miles (2,392 km²), virtually all of which is land.

Major highways

• U.S. Highway 87
• State Highway 158
• State Highway 163

Adjacent counties

• Mitchell County (north)
• Coke County (east)
• Tom Green County (south)
• Reagan County (southwest)
• Glasscock County (west)
• Howard County (northwest)

Demographics

Historical populations
Census	Pop.		%±
1900	1,127		—
1910	1,493		32.5%
1920	1,053		−29.5%
1930	1,431		35.9%
1940	1,404		−1.9%
1950	1,282		−8.7%
1960	1,177		−8.2%
1970	1,056		−10.3%
1980	1,206		14.2%
1990	1,438		19.2%
2000	1,393		−3.1%
2010	1,143		−17.9%
U.S. Decennial Census Texas Almanac: 1850-2010

As of the census of 2000, there were 1,393 people, 513 households, and 385 families residing in the county. The population density was 2 people per square mile (1/km²). There were 633 housing units at an average density of 1 per square mile (0/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 85.71% White, 0.07% Black or African American, 0.29% Native American, 0.07% Pacific Islander, 11.84% from other races, and 2.01% from two or more races. 31.01% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 513 households out of which 36.80% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 64.10% were married couples living together, 7.00% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.80% were non-families. 23.20% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.30% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.67 and the average family size was 3.15.

In the county, the population was spread out with 28.70% under the age of 18, 6.10% from 18 to 24, 29.70% from 25 to 44, 20.80% from 45 to 64, and 14.60% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 96.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.90 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $35,129, and the median income for a family was $37,813. Males had a median income of $28,173 versus $19,615 for females. The per capita income for the county was $16,972. About 13.90% of families and 16.80% of the population were below the poverty line, including 23.30% of those under age 18 and 15.90% of those age 65 or over.

History

Native Americans

Original native Plains Indians included Comanche, Lipan Apache, Kiowa, and Kickapoo.

Early Settlements

Although the county was part of the 1842 Fisher-Miller Land Grant, no resulting settlement happened in the area. Fur traders, Texas Rangers, and federal troops passed through the area between 1800 and 1860. Settlers began arriving after the American Civil War, after the demise of the buffalo herds and the departure of Indian tribes. Indian fighter and buffalo hunter W. S. Sterling settled in the area circa 1858. Two decades later, Sterling became a U.S. Marshal in Arizona and was killed in an Apache ambush near Fort Apache. Fellow buffalo hunter S. J. Wiley also settled in the county about the same time as Sterling. According to legend, Frank and Jesse James hid out on Sterling Creek in the 1870s to raise horses and hunt buffalo. Camp Elizabeth began as a Texas Rangers camp circa 1853. It became an outpost hospital facility of Fort Concho 1874-1886. Large ranches and cattle drives to Colorado City and Fort Worth preceded homesteading in the county. By the 1880s homesteaders competed with ranchers for land. North Carolinian James Jefferson Lafayott Glass came to the county in 1883 and signed on with the Sterling Brothers’ Half Circle S spread. He and would later homestead on Lacy Creek.

The Constitution of 1845 embodied the homestead principle. The Constitution of 1876 defined the homestead as the family home on up to 200 acres (0.81 km²) of rural land or urban land worth up to $5,000 (at the time of homestead designation) with its improvements and used as a family home or place of business.

Fence Cutting Wars

The county suffered droughts in 1883 and 1886-87. The former ignited fence cutting wars in the county, and the latter of which bankrupted the Half Circle S ranch. Fence Cutting Wars in Texas lasted for approximately five years, 1883-1888. As open range areas gave way to farming homesteaders who fenced their land, cattlemen found it more difficult to feed their herds. In some cases, large land owners would also fence public land as their property. As water and grass became more scarce in a drought, cowboys cut through fences. Newspapers condemned the fence cutters, and property owners employed their own armed security forces. Texas Governor John Ireland prodded a special assembly to order the fence cutters to cease. In response, the legislature made fence-cutting and pasture-burning crimes punishable with prison time, while at the same time regulating fencing While the practice abated, sporadic incidents of related violence continued through 1888.

County Established and Growth

The county was established and organized in 1891 from Tom Green County. A competition developed between Sterling City and Cummins for the county seat. Sterling City won, and most of the Cummins population moved to Sterling City by the end of the year. Cummins became a ghost town. County voters in 1898 elected to make Sterling a dry county, prohibiting the sale of alcohol within its boundaries. Sheep ranching was introduced to the area about 1890. County cotton was first planted in 1889. Sterling City opened its first cotton gin in 1895; with others established later. By 1900, 136 acres (0.55 km²) were planted in cotton, and by 1910 production of the fiber had expanded to 1,626 acres (6.58 km²). Eventually, it became more evident that county lands were most suitable for grazing. The cotton gins eventually failed; by 1920 only 650 acres (2.6 km²) in Sterling County was planted in cotton. Ranching continued to expand in the county. Sterling County experienced a brief boom when the number of farms and ranches in the area increased from 131 in 1920 to 176 by 1925. The county's economy declined during the Great Depression of the 1930s. Oil was discovered in Sterling County in 1947 and helped to bail out the area's declining economy. By the beginning of 1991, 286,548,000 barrels (45,557,500 m³) of crude had been extracted from within the county.

Cities and towns

• Broome
• Sterling City

See also

• Dry counties

External links

• Sterling County from the Handbook of Texas Online
• Inventory of county records, Sterling County Courthouse, Sterling City, Texas, hosted by the Portal to Texas History