Sterling, Massachusetts

Sterling is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, USA. The population was 7,257 at the 2000 census.

History

Sterling was first settled in 1720 and was officially incorporated in 1781. Sterling is the setting of Sarah Hale's famous poem, Mary Had a Little Lamb. Mary Sawyer, the subject of the historically true poem, lived in Sterling. The Sawyer's house still stands to this day.

Sterling is the birthplace of Ebenezer Butterick (29 May, 1826 – 31 March, 1903), inventor of tissue paper dress patterns, which revolutionized home sewing. The town's municipal building is located in the old Butterick School, which was named after Ebenezer Butterick.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 81.8 km² (31.6 mi²). 79.0 km² (30.5 mi²) of it is land and 2.8 km² (1.1 mi²) of it (3.42%) is water.

Demographics

As of the census ² of 2000, there were 7,257 people, 2,573 households, and 2,068 families residing in the town. The population density was 91.8/km² (237.7/mi²). There were 2,637 housing units at an average density of 33.4/km² (86.4/mi²). The racial makeup of the town was 98.06% White, 0.58% African American, 0.10% Native American, 0.40% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.28% from other races, and 0.58% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.81% of the population.

There were 2,573 households out of which 39.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 69.8% were married couples living together, 7.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 19.6% were non-families. 15.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.82 and the average family size was 3.16.

In the town the population was spread out with 27.5% under the age of 18, 5.6% from 18 to 24, 30.7% from 25 to 44, 27.1% from 45 to 64, and 9.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 99.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.1 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $67,188, and the median income for a family was $76,943. Males had a median income of $51,227 versus $32,734 for females. The per capita income for the town was $28,844. About 1.7% of families and 2.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.5% of those under age 18 and 5.7% of those age 65 or over.

Taxes

The tax rate in Sterling has remained fairly steady over recent years and has occasionally been reduced by a small percentage. These small decreases however have been dramatically overshadowed by extreme increases in house valuations resulting in many residents effectively paying 50-75% more in taxes in 2005 as compared with 5 years ago.

Services

Sterling provides town water and the quality is now very good after installing a purification system. Approximately 5 years ago the town water supply was affected by high bacteria levels and residents were forced to boil water for a period of time until the situation was resolved. There are no town sewer services - all houses have private septic systems. The town also offers curbside trash pickup for no additional fee and has a very good although somewhat expensive recycling center.

Police and Fire services are in general very good and the town has recently approved and built new facilities for each. Some residents debate the necessity of these new facilities because Sterling experiences very few fires or crimes.

Sterling is one of the few towns in the state that provides electricity to its residents. Unfortunately, electricity in Sterling costs significantly more than what one might pay through National Grid. The price premium might be justifiable if the uptime was better or the town generated its own power to insure against the rolling blackouts that may occur in the future. As it stands now, power goes out frequently and costs continue to increase. The only advantage was the traditional 50% December discount which was recently reduced to 30%.

External links

Sterling official website