Directors of the First State Bank of Sterling City, the town's earliest financial institution, constructed this two-story brick commercial building in 1910. It originally housed the State Hotel and the banking operation, which was acquired in 1926 by the First National Bank. Other offices located here included those of doctors, the telephone company, post office, and city hall. E. B. Butler also operated a drugstore here from 1926 to the 1960s. Businessmen associated with the site included many of the community's prominent early leaders.