Sterling Nebraska - Nebraska Directory

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Village · Johnson County · Population 480 (2020 census) · ZIP 68443 · Founded 1870 · Peak population 804 (1920)

About Sterling

Sterling is a village of 480 in western Johnson County on NE 41 and the Big Nemaha River, about 12 miles northwest of Tecumseh. It has its own district, Sterling Public Schools, and each August the Deer Creek Sodbusters hold their antique tractor and machinery show south of town.

History

McClure and Root ran a sawmill on the river here from 1860. William Mann and John Bentz platted Sterling in 1870 along the surveyed route of the Atchison & Nebraska Railroad; Mann gave 40 acres for the depot and built a grist mill and dam on the Nemaha, and trains were running by 1872. The village was incorporated on July 8, 1876, and by 1882 it had about 700 people, about 25 businesses, two newspapers, a bank and a two-story school. The population peaked at 804 in 1920. Nature writer Hal Borland, author of When the Legends Die, was born here in 1900.

Highways and trails through Sterling

Route	One way	Other way
NE 41East–west past the village	East past St. Mary to NE 50 north of Tecumseh	West to Adams and NE 43 in Gage County

Nearby towns

Burr	about 7 mi northeast	County roads
Adams	about 7 mi west	NE 41
Vesta	about 8 mi south-southeast	County roads
Crab Orchard	about 9 mi south-southwest	County roads
Tecumseh	about 12 mi east-southeast	NE 41 and NE 50
Cook	about 12 mi east-northeast	NE 41 and NE 50
St Mary	about 5 mi east-southeast	NE 41

Things to see

The Deer Creek Sodbusters show grounds, 72927 610 Ave., 4.5 mi south: an antique tractor and machinery show on the second Sunday of August since 1983 (August 9 in 2026), with threshing, a parade and two museums · Sterling Public Library, 150 Broadway · Sterling Village Park · Immanuel Lutheran Church, 60798 NE 41 · Latrobe Cemetery, about 5 mi northwest · St. Mary Catholic Church at St. Mary, about 5 mi east on NE 41, founded in 1890 by Polish families

Schools and health care

Schools: Sterling Public Schools: Sterling Elementary School (PK–6) and Sterling High School (7–12), 250 Main St., Sterling

Health care: No clinic in Sterling; Johnson County Hospital, 202 High St., Tecumseh, 402-335-3361 (critical access hospital), with Tecumseh Family Health in the same building, 402-335-2811

Sources: U.S. Census; Wikipedia; Andreas, History of the State of Nebraska (1882); Nebraska State Gazetteers (1885, 1890); History Nebraska; National Register of Historic Places; Nebraska Game and Parks; Nemaha NRD; Nebraska Department of Transportation; county, school, museum and parish websites; Nemaha Valley Observer. Distances marked "about" are straight-line estimates.