The Cider Mill, erected in 1898, began doing business as The Sterling Cider Co., Inc. in 1906. From 1906 to the 1970's, the mill produced apple cider, cider vinegar, apple juice and sparkling cider under various proprietorships. During the late 1970's the mill sat idle and gradually fell into disrepair. In the mid-1980's the Sterling Mill Works was established as a cooperative gallery, artist studio, craft and candle shop and a glassblowing studio/classroom. Early in the 2000's the mill was sold to its present owner and is currently operating as the Cider Mill Arts and Antiques Building. Now just known as the Cider Mill, the building has experienced a rebirth. “Phoenix-like, it is once again a bustle of activity and prosperity, taking its place as a vital cog in the history and economy of the region.” www.cidermillrunsterling.com

Established as a dairy farm, portion of the more than 200 acres have been transformed into an agricultural entertainment complex where children can play with and learn about farm animals some of which are rare and endangered. The animals, many roaming free, include emu, alpaca, blue-eared pheasant, Scottish Highlander, peafowl, St. Croix sheep, St. Clemente goat, a Poitou ass, Gloucester Old Spot pigs, and of course an assortment of more ordinary goats, lams and other fowl. An annual attraction is the maze, a walk-through puzzle that is three-dimensional challenge designed each winter on the computer. The maze is planted each spring and tests spatial awareness and problem solving techniques. Entertainment farming is becoming a way for farmers to keep their lands open and undeveloped while managing to earn an income.  The Davis family has remained in business while many nearby farms have gone into bankruptcy.

A three-acre parcel donated to the town by the Sawyer family for a Meeting House, stables, and two noon houses. Mary’s Little Lamb statue, commemorative statue of a lamb in honor of the poem written by Sarah Josepha Hale and known to school children since it first appeared in the School Song Book (1834) written by the author. The Mary of the poem was Mary Sawyer who was born in Sterling and began caring for the lamb in about 1816 after its mother had rejected it. (Unfortunately, Mary Sawyer’s home on Rugg Road was burned by arson in 2008.)

The lakes are remnants of glacial Lake Nashaway former during the last Ice-Age glacial melt. (12-15,000 years ago). The oldest known Indian habitation site (approximately 9,000 years ago) is located on Swett Hill Road overlooking the east lake. During the 1640s colonists reported Nashaway Indian village around the shores of both lakes. John Prescott, and other settlers of Lancaster purchased much of the land on West Lake and farmed there are early as 1660s. During King Philip’s War, 1675-1676, the East Lake was the scene of a brutal massacre of Indian women and Children by English soldiers. In 1930, the Metropolitan District Commission gave the east lake to Sterling for town use; a stream once connecting the two lakes was blocked off.

Is a centuries old Indian trail winding from Lancaster to the Waushacum Lakes. As early as 1650 path had become a cart path used by colonists. In 1717, the town of Lancaster upgraded the path and it became the first county road to Worcester. Most of the road still follows the original route. On Chace Hill, a ca. 1790 colonial home was the site of the local tavern. Because it was about a mile, the area also became known as The Mile. Prior to 1700 families settled along The Mile, in 1741 the settlers of The Mile and the Chocksett Settlement combined to become part of Sterling as the Second or Chocksett Parish.

In 1720 the land from about Kendall Hill (east) to Sterling Junction (south), to the western banks of the Stillwater River and to Justice Hill (north) was known as Chocksett. The first known settler was Gamaliel Beaman who was soon joined by his brother-in-law Benjamin Houghton. By 1735 Benjamin had set up a tavern along the road from Princeton to Boston. He had also acquired and sold so much land that he became known as Landlord Ben. The Houghton Tavern occasionally served as the town meetinghouse and stood at 15 Osgood Road until it burned in 1816.

Zebedee Redding built the farm when he settled in the area in 1790. Redding served as a captain during the Revolutionary War. The house changed ownership over the years, in 1868 Ephraim Chandler built the saltbox dairy barn. The Stillwater Farm Interpretive Site is an environmental education facility jointly managed by the Division of Watershed Management and the Friends of the Wachusett Watershed, Inc. This site includes the 18th century farmhouse, the 19th century saltbox dairy barn, and a self-guided interpretive trail. Stillwater Farm provides an educational opportunity through scheduled programs and volunteer events, to demonstrate both past and present interactions between the working landscape and resource stewardship. Particular emphasis is given to watershed related issues and dynamics. For more information, contact Jim Lafley, Education Director, at (508) 792-7423 x231, or e-mail jim.lafley@state.ma.us

Also known as the Blood, Peck, MacArthur House, what is now the Sterling Historical Society headquarters was purchased by the society in 1968. The Society’s collections are stored or exhibited here. Included in the collections are examples of the artistic pottery of William Walley and other Sterling potters.

The one room school house was recently acquired by the Sterling Historical Society and functioned as a school until 1935 when it became the West Community Club until that organization disbanded in 1990’s.

This is actually the second structure to occupy this site. The first town hall was built in 1801 and was the first separation of Church and State in Worcester County. It was later moved to its location on Worcester Road.

The first family to make pottery was the Tolmans who began using clay from the Stillwater River. The clay source was so plentiful that by 1870 there were three major potters in the area. The largest was Wachusett Pottery operated by Marcus Snow and Henry Coolidge. William Walley operated a specialty shop from1898 to 1919, and became quite famous as an art potter. John Jepson founded the Norton Company in Worcester. Another potter Levi Stuart lived on Wilder Road and made clay bricks. Most of the brick houses in this area were constructed about 1850 to housed pottery owners and their employees. 

All five of the first settlers are buried here as well as members of early Chocksett families, and includes Colonel Asa Whitcomb, Revolutionary War leader. 

Also contains graves of many early families and includes the grave of a murder victim.

Contains the graves of Robert B. Thomas, publisher of the Farmer’s Almanac; Captain Benjamin Richardson, the Town’s first selectman.

Land was acquired from Eli Kilbourne, Joel Houghton and Herbert Waters.

Contains the graves of three generations of Fairbanks family members, many of whom died of smallpox and could not be buried in the public cemetery.