Early Photograph by E. O. Taylor of a Group in Sidney, Ohio, taken in August 1889.  Inscribed along the front bottom edge "M.E.S.S., Sidney, Ohio, Aug. 8, 1889" (Methodist Episcopal Sunday School). Condition is very nice, one or two light scuffs, image itself measures 4.50 x 7.75 inches excluding the board.  Stamped on the verso by E. O. Taylor (Eldred Orson Taylor), photographer who was located in Sidney.  Buyer to pay shipping, good luck!

From the 1840s to 1913, canal boats carried Shelby County's products to Cincinnati or Toledo. Sidney was crossed by the Miami and Erie Canal's Sidney or Port Jefferson Feeder Branch. Before railroads came to Sidney, the canal provided most transportation, as roads were unpaved and not usable in all seasons. Part of the canal remains south of Water Street.

The City of Sidney, named after Sir Philip Sidney, a well-known poet and member of British Parliament, was originally a 70-acre (280,000 m2) parcel of land located along the west side of the Great Miami River. This land was donated by Charles Starrett to be used as the site of a new town designated to be the county seat of Shelby County. The area around Sidney was once the richly forested hunting ground of the Shawnee and Miami Indian nations. This fertile area was developed as agricultural lands over time.

The construction of the Miami-Erie Canal between 1825 and 1837 connected Sidney in a north/south direction with the major trade centers in Ohio. In addition to opening the first significant "outside" trade for Sidney, the construction of the canal attracted an influx of settlers to the area. As the influence of the canal declined, another transportation element, railroads, began to develop in Sidney. East-west rail began to be laid in 1851, followed by north-south rail in 1856. Sidney is still served by these railroad lines.