Stirling City is an unincorporated community in Butte County, California, located on Paradise Ridge in the western foothills of the Sierra Nevada. Its population is approximately 16. The village's ZIP Code is 95978 and area code 530. It lies at an elevation of 3570 feet. Stirling City is located at 39°54′28″N 121°31′41″W / 39.90778°N 121.52806°W / 39.90778; -121.52806, around 20 miles (32 km) northeast of Chico, California. It is built around a loop (which terminates a winding spur line) of the Southern Pacific Railroad, built to collect lumber from the Lassen National Forest. It was founded in 1903 by the Diamond Match Company of Barberton, Ohio, as a center for processing cut lumber from the surrounding forests. Diamond Match official Fred Clough named the city, taking the name from the boiler used at Diamond's Baberton plant, made by the Stirling Boiler Company. The sawmill closed in the early 1970s. The land surrounding Stirling City is still harvested for timber, and the cleared area is farmed for cattle, fruit, and nuts. A post office opened in 1903.