Sterling, OK

Sterling is a Comanche County town at the junction of Oklahoma State Highways 17 and 65, 13 miles west of US 81 and roughly midway between Lawton and Duncan. The 2020 census counted 668 residents. A post office opened in October 1901, soon after the land lottery opened Comanche County to wider settlement. The town took its name from Capt. Charles Sterling, a Texas Ranger who had run cattle in the area. Sterling grew without a railroad, relying on overland freight and the roads that connected farmers and ranchers to larger markets.

By the 1930s, the town had two cotton gins, four cream stations, filling stations, hardware stores, a mill and feed company, and a telephone company. State Highway 17 later followed the older road west toward US 277, while Highway 65 ends at Sterling after crossing the county from the south. The town is now part of the Lawton metropolitan area, but its local map still reflects its early role as a service point for agricultural country. Sterling is a small Oklahoma town built around roads, ranching, and the post-office-era settlement that followed the 1901 opening.