Shelby County Courtsquare

The prettiest spot in Sidney, Ohio, is arguably the courthouse square. With its well kept lawns and inviting shade of many trees, it is little wonder that people traditionally like to gather there.

A sketch of Sidney’s ‘past and present‘appeared in an 1872 "Sidney Journal" issue. According to the writer, "Here as in most country towns where there is a public square, business chiefly clusters around it and upon the streets which form its boundaries. The business blocks are mainly two and three story brick structures, generally of creditable appearance, but none specially noteworthy."

Within only three decades of the article’s printing, more than 35 additional buildings would be built in the downtown area; many of them remaining as some of Sidney’s finest historic commercial structures.

While typical of this region’s commercial architecture, the collection of High Italianate buildings found on Main Street (on the east side of the court square) are unique because they appear much the same as they did in the year 1900. A visit to Sidney’s downtown and an examination of its buildings tells the story of not only its architectural, but historical heritage.

Horse carriages line up around the courtsquare in the photo above. The city/county provided hitching posts and troughs around the square for the driver’s horses.

'Downtown' segment written in October, 1998 by Sherrie Casad-Lodge 

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