Sterling City is a city in and the county seat of Sterling County, Texas, United States. The population was 1,081 at the 2000 census, but had dropped to 888 by 2010.On May 25, 1955, 15 United States Air Force personnel, flying in a B-36 bomber under the callsign Abbot 27, perished in a crash near Sterling City. The airmen were members of the 40th Bomb Squadron of the 6th Bombardment Wing at Walker Air Force Base in Roswell, New Mexico. A monument in their honor was erected in 2007 at the Tom Green County Courthouse in San Angelo.