Talk:Sterling, Illinois

hustling drugs?
I lived there in Sterling for 18 years and I did NOT know that it was well known for hustling drugs. Is this new? I knew there was a market for drugs that spilled over from Chicago, but I didn't think that this was the most notable thing about the city....comments?

It is mostly antidotal, but there is at least a perception based of probable fact that Sterling / Rock falls by virtue of the fact that is so far under the radar of law enforcement and the fact that it has a disproportionately large drug consumer base per capita, is a hub for the distribution of Cocaine, Crack and for both the distribution and manufacture of methamphetamines. There is evidence that suggests not only the presense of fractions of Chicago based street gangs, but in fact, surprisingly, a small fraction who at least has ties to “traditional “ Chicago based organized crime and or low level reputed organized crime figures —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.147.58.133 (talk) 01:35, 13 October 2008 (UTC)

added links
I added links to 2 Sterling related pages I started, I will probably work on the historical figures, Dillons for sure, next, unless someone else wants to, as for hustling drugs, obvious vandalism that appears to have been taken care of.A mcmurray 00:47, 19 September 2006 (UTC)

Sister city
Canoinhas, Santa Catarina, Brazil. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 200.219.162.130 (talk) 18:50, 10 May 2007 (UTC).

Who said Sterling was a suburb?
I'd like to know who added the portion titled "Geography." It obviously wasn't anybody intending to make the article any better through its spelling of "suberb," and its reference to nickels and Chicago. Sterling and the entire Rock Valley are completely independent of Chicago and should not be associated with the metropolitan area at all. I just edited the geography section to be much more accurate and less juvenile. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.72.176.14 (talk) 03:08, 2 September 2010 (UTC)


 * The closest metropolitian area is the Quad Cities of Moline, Illinois and Davenport, Iowa. Sterling and nearby Rock Hills are called "exurban" and Chicago is less than two hours away on I-80. The area is becoming fashionable in real estate, plus the area's famed claim of Tampico as the birthplace of actor and US President Ronald Reagan. The area was once known for ore mining and some of the area's zinc went to the U.S. Mint in Chicago. Whiteside county's population grown by 20% in the 2000's above state average.

The area has a sizable Hispanic community mostly concentrated in Sterling and Rock Hills, but the "Tampico" namesake in Spanish is 99% white non-Hispanic, so it is rather homogeneous. Whiteside county is about 10-15% Hispanic, esp. of Cuban, Mexican and Spanish ancestry, attracted to the steel industry and zinc mines since the 1920's, and now immigrants from Mexico and Central America moved in Sterling to taken jobs in construction, home remodeling and landscaping in a briefly booming local economy.

I sense it has to do with Ronald Reagan's image and political standing against communism and the Castro regime in Cuba, has appealed to Cuban-Americans. Thus the locals in Sterling shown some sympathy to Hispanics coming to live in American freedom even with the controversy of illegal immigration and cultural differences of the newcomers in Sterling. Admiral Joseph Reeves in the Spanish-American war is also from Sterling, adds further to the local contribution to the U.S. military's efforts to liberate Cuba and Puerto Rico from Spanish rule in the late 1890's. Mike D 26 (talk) 07:26, 6 February 2011 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just added archive links to 1 one external link on Sterling, Illinois. Please take a moment to review my edit. If necessary, add after the link to keep me from modifying it. Alternatively, you can add to keep me off the page altogether. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive http://web.archive.org/web/20111006030323/http://wacc-online.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=17&Itemid=32 to http://wacc-online.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=17&Itemid=32

When you have finished reviewing my changes, please set the checked parameter below to true to let others know.

Cheers.—cyberbot II  Talk to my owner :Online 22:13, 27 February 2016 (UTC)

Sterling/Sinnissippi/Hopewell Mounds
You are right, Sinnissippi Park, and the Hopewell Indian mounds (for which I donated a picture) are not in the Sterling city limits. I didn't realize that. Thank you.

The bigger issue is that the Sterling Park District covers a superset of the city limits. Sinnissippi Park, Oppold Marina and the golf course are definitely out of the city limits. (I'm not sure about Westwood and Lawrence Park.) However, I'm sure most people who live in Sterling consider them their own. I'm asking a friend about the exact limits of the park district funding because I don't see it on the park district web site.

I propose adding a note under Sterling Park District saying that the Park District includes parks outside the city limit. And then Sinnissippi Park and the indian mounds would be justifiably included in the article. OK?

MalcolmSlaney (talk) 21:16, 4 May 2021 (UTC)
 * I oppose your proposal. The Empire State Building is very close to Hoboken, New Jersey, and I would not blame Hoboken's Chamber of Commerce one bit if they stated on their website "less than two miles from the world famous Empire State Building", but Wikipedia is not a Facebook page or personal website (nor is it a game of horseshoes where points are awarded for being close); Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, which means information included in Wikipedia needs to be correct, even if it hurts people's feelings.  If you want to add Sinnissippi Park or the Hopewell Indian mounds to an article, add them to Whiteside County, Illinois, where it would be correct information.  But please don't add them to Sterling, Illinois, because they are not located here. Magnolia677 (talk) 22:48, 4 May 2021 (UTC)

Sinnissippi Park (and a number of other Sterling Park District Parks) are already part of the Sterling Illinois wikipedia page. They were there long before I arrived. Their (mailing) address is Sterling, Illinois. Yes, all these parks are technically in Whiteside county, but local people consider them part of Sterling. They are part of the Sterling Park District, which is based in Sterling. A better solution is to add a note under the park heading saying that some parks are outside the city limits. OK?

Sterling History copied
The history of Sterling on this wikipedia page is a copy of the history on the city web site. I'm not sure which came first, whether this copying is appropriate, or if anybody wants to rewrite it.

MalcolmSlaney (talk) 21:20, 4 May 2021 (UTC)

Unreferenced sections
There are two entire sections that have been flagged as lacking reliable sources for over 13 years. These sections need to have references added or be deleted. Chicago god (talk) 12:22, 20 May 2023 (UTC)