Sterling
Incorporated in 1781
The Conant Public Library, in Sterling, is across from the town common.
Sterling was once part of the territory of the Nashaway Indians, at one time the most numerous and powerful tribe in Massachusetts. Owing to an abundance of lakes and streams, the land that is now Sterling was home to native Americans as
far back as 7000 BC.
Lancaster. This land included the eastern portion of Sterling. In 1702, Tahanto, a nephew of Sholan, sold additional land which included both Waushacum Lakes and the western part of town. The first settlers lived around the Waushacum Lakes in the 1640′s. The first permanent settler was Gamaliel Beaman of Lancaster, who in 1720 settled near the present day Beaman Road. By 1740 about 50 families had settled. In 1743, a meeting house, a school and a pound were built in the Center on three acres of land donated by the Sawyer family.
The Town Common is a remnant of that land. Over 850 families lived in the town by 1764 which at that time was called Chocksett, “land of the foxes.”
Scottish lord who helped the colonists during the Revolutionary War.
- The statue commemorating Mary Had a Little Lamb sits on the town common.
Sterling has had its share of prominent residents and their names can be found in the street names and places in the town and among present residents. Lt. Joel Pratt was an aide to George Washington during the Revolution. Pratt’s Junction was named in his honor. In 1828, Silas Lamson invented the curved snath for the scythe which improved harvesting of hay and
grains. Silas Stuart invented a machine to make sewing machine needles in 1860. In 1863, Ebenezer Butterick developed dress patterns. Mary Sawyer whose pet lamb was the inspiration for the poem, “Mary Had a Little Lamb” was born in
Sterling in 1806. A statue commemorating the lamb stands on the Town Common.