DUANE
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Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm gonna do it justice. Now, Sterling City's got a building that's been quietly running this town's business since before most folks can remember. Back in 1910, the Directors of the First State Bank of Sterling City, the town's earliest financial institution, had a two-story brick commercial building put up right there in the heart of things.
Two stories of brick. That was a statement. That was Sterling City saying it was here to stay.
The building started out doing double duty, housing both the State Hotel and the banking operation under the same roof. Travelers could sleep upstairs while their money worked downstairs. Or maybe the other way around.
Either way, the building kept busy. Then in 1926, the First National Bank came along and acquired that banking operation. And the building, well, it just kept right on being useful.
Doctors set up offices there. The telephone company moved in. The post office found a home there.
City hall itself took up residence. At one point or another, just about every function that makes a small Texas town tick had an address in that two-story brick building. And then there was E.
B. Butler, who operated a drugstore right there on the premises from 1926 all the way into the 1960s. Decades of prescriptions, cold drinks, and conversations.
The marker says businessmen associated with this site have included many of the prominent early leaders of the community. That's not a boast. That's just what happens when one building becomes the beating heart of a place.
Sterling City grew up in that building, one transaction at a time.
What the marker says
Directors of the First State Bank of Sterling City, the town's earliest financial institution, had this two-story brick commercial building constructed in 1910. It originally housed the State Hotel and the banking operation, which was acquired in 1926 by the First National Bank. Other offices that have been located here include those of doctors, the telephone company, post office and city hall. E. B. Butler also operated a drugstore here from 1926 to the 1960s. Businessmen associated with the site have included many of the prominent early leaders of the community.