Editing Sterling, Kansas (section)

==History==
For millennia, the land now known as Kansas was inhabited by [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]].  In 1803, most of [[History of Kansas|modern Kansas]] was secured by the United States as part of the [[Louisiana Purchase]].  In 1854, the [[Kansas Territory]] was organized, then in 1861 [[Kansas]] became the 34th [[U.S. state]].  In 1867, [[Rice County, Kansas|Rice County]] was founded.

Sterling was originally called '''Peace''', and under the latter name was founded in 1872.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5zdAAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA273 | title=Biennial Report of the Board of Directors of the Kansas State Historical Society | publisher=Kansas State Printing Plant | author=Kansas State Historical Society | year=1916 | pages=273}}</ref>  In 1876, the name was changed to '''Sterling''', by two brothers after their father Sterling Rosan.<ref>Kansas Place-Names, John Rydjord, University of Oklahoma Press, 1972, {{ISBN|0-8061-0994-7}}</ref>

In the 1890s, Jonathan S. Dillon sold groceries at his general store in Sterling.  Later in 1913, he opened his first J.S. Dillon Cash Food Market in [[Hutchinson, Kansas|Hutchinson]].  Later he expanded into the [[Dillons]] grocery supermarket chain.

===Historic places===
* [[National Register of Historic Places listings in Rice County, Kansas|Cooper Hall]] ([[National Register of Historic Places|NRHP]]), North Broadway Avenue.
* [[National Register of Historic Places listings in Rice County, Kansas|Shay Building]] ([[National Register of Historic Places|NRHP]]), 202 South Broadway Avenue.
* [[Sterling Free Public Carnegie Library|Sterling Carnegie Library]] ([[National Register of Historic Places|NRHP]]), 132 North Broadway Avenue.