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Sidney is the county seat of Shelby County, Ohio. William Stewart was the first person to settle in the area of Sidney, but residents did not establish the town until 1819. Residents named the town after Sir Philip Sidney, a resident of Great Britain.
Sidney grew relatively quickly, having a population of 713 people in 1840. This growth was partly due to a canal that connected Sidney with the Miami and Erie Canal, providing local residents access to markets across the United States. In 1846, Sidney contained two newspaper offices, five churches, eighteen stores, one oil well, two carding mills, one fulling mill, three flourmills, and four sawmills.
Over the next several decades, Sidney continued to grow. In 1880, the town