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Welcome to Sterling ...

So far, we found very little information about Sterling. The little that we've found leads us believe that the community is historic.<1>

We've added Sterling to our Gazetteer with the hope that we can develop more information. If you can help us with Sterling, please Contact Us.

Sterling would have been located within present day Boone County<2>.

While we don't have a date for the founding of Sterling, you might consider that their post office opened in 1913.

When the people of Sterling referred to themselves (known as a demonym), they are believed to have used Sterlingite<3>

While the community is gone, the present day location for Sterling is 760 feet [232 m] above sea level.<4>.

Time Zone: The area where Sterling was located is in the Eastern Time Zone (EST/EDT) and observes daylight saving time

The Area Codes where Sterling was located: 304 & 681<5>

Communities Also Named Sterling ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are two West Virginia communities named Sterling: This one is located in Boone County and the other is located in Wetzel County.

Beyond West Virginia, there are 41 communities that are also named Sterling - they are located in Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida (2), Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas (2), Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan (2), Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina (2), North Dakota, Nova Scotia, Ohio (2), Oklahoma (2), Pennsylvania (2), Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.

For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Sterling.

Communities near Sterling ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Sterling.

  • Charleston
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
  • South Charleston
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
  • Saint Albans
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
  • Dunbar
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
  • Madison
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Montgomery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
  • Chesapeake
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Chesapeake is located in Kanawha County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chesapeake
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,393 people
  • Marmet
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Belle
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Belle is located in Kanawha County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belle
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,108 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Belle <6>
  • Cedar Grove
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Cedar Grove is located in Kanawha County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Grove
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 897 people

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Sterling. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Sterling.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Sterling. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Sterling.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Sterling. See our Newspapers Page for Sterling.

Adding Sterling to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Sterling in the GNIS. For more information, see the Referenced GNIS Codes section on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found (so far) for Sterling was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<7>

From that list, the Sterling post office opened in 1913. The Sterling post office closed in 1924.

For more details, see References and Mentions for Sterling.

Footnotes ...

<1>We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Sterling, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>If you're interested in how the shape of West Virginia's counties, including Boone, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
<3>A demonym is the name for a resident of a community which is usually derived from (or is related to) the name of that community. In other words, it's how the residents of Sterling refer to themselves. It's important to note that there aren't any rules for taking a community's name and turning it into a demonym. A demonym is informal and while the majority of Sterling may use one name, keep in mind that others may use something different.
<4>The elevation is an estimate for the area around Sterling - it will be higher in some places and lower in others.
<5>When there's a risk of an area code running out of phone numbers, an 'Overlay Area Code' is created that has the same geographic boundaries as the existing area code. In this case, the 304 code has been Overlayed with the 681 area code. New phone numbers in the Sterling area will be assigned with one of these codes: 304 or 681. As a result, placing a call in the Sterling area will require 10-digit dialing (where you enter both the area code and then the phone number).
<6>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<7>A copy of the Blevins & Helbock Post Office list with background information can be found at:

      https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/