Early pictures of Sidney's town square show the courtyard being almost level with the business places.

As we purpose to celebrate the 100th birthday of the Fremont County Courthouse, 1889-1989, some questions have arisen as to when and how the road around the square was lowered; making the courtyard elevated.

Elaine (King) Lorimore says her father, Ed King, was on the town council when the project was undertaken in approximately 1918-19. It was his dream to have the Sidney square paved. He and his son Gilbert helped.

Men with "slips" (scoops) pulled by teams of horses dug the dirt up and moved it to build up and widen various city streets approaching the town square. She says the Filmore Street at the northwest corner of the square, running west to Maple Street, was a sharp drop off and much of the dirt was placed there to build it up to a more gradual slope. She said her father wanted very much to improve that road and pave it as it and Maple were the main roads to the north, out of Sidney. It was never proved.

Mildred (Birkby) Reade remembers when it rained, before paving, the ruts in our city square were so deep the horses could hardly raise their feet out of the mud. They finally tried oiling and that helped some. Early pictures show how the oiled streets looked. (I wonder if business places had trouble keeping their floors clean? I remember foot scrapers at the school house doors.)

Mildred says she lived on Illinois (north) Street at the time the men started digging with the slips and she thinks that is the street they started on. When the town square was paved, Illinois (north), Filmore (east) and Main (south) were also paved. Bricks were shipped in by rail to the Sidney depot and hauled uptown. They had to have a harder brick than those made in this locality.

Quite a few local residents owned cars (Fords "tin lizzies") by the time. Cars came into Sidney about 1909-10. At the completion of the paving, everyone got out for a joy ride on their new hard-topped road.

Mildred Read remembers that the first winter after the new paving was finished a big ice storm came to Sidney. All the young fry got out their ice skates and skated the town. Thanks to my friends Elaine and Mildred, they helped us learn of some of our town's history. I just remember the cars buzzing by my grandparents home on Depot Street (Filmore). I sat and watched in awe. I started out coming to Sidney in the horse and buggy days.

Author unknown