The area around Sidney was once the richly forested hunting ground of the Shawnee and Miami Indian nations.

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.

Before railroads came to Sidney, the canal provided most transportation, as roads were unpaved and not usable in all seasons.

As the influence of the canal declined, another transportation element, railroads, began to develop in Sidney.

Sidney is the hometown of Paul Lauterbur, a renowned scientist and Nobel Prize winner who helped develop the MRI.

President George W. Bush visited the town in 2004, eating at the Spot Restaurant in downtown Sidney.

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney visited the Shelby County Fairgrounds in Sidney in 2012.

A diversified employer base offers jobs in manufacturing (especially in the automotive industry) and service sectors.

[15] Amos Press of Sidney publishes Coin World, Linn's Stamp News and other nationally distributed hobby publications.

The facility will manufacture separator film, a key component in batteries for electric vehicles, according to SEMCORP.

[citation needed] Sidney, Ohio has a drive-in movie theatre, the Auto-Vue, located on the corner of 4th Street and Russell Road.

Gateway provides Shelby and surrounding counties with quality arts, entertainment, and cultural enrichment.

A downtown revitalization group called Sidney Alive provides a farmers' market around the court square during growing season.

They also put on events for the community, including an Easter egg hunt, Kids Around the Square, the Winter Wonderland Parade, the Chocolate Walk, horse and carriage rides, mystery dinners, and more.

They work with the small downtown businesses to make Sidney a fun place for young professionals and families to live.

A collection of Sidney and Shelby County historical artifacts is available for viewing Monday through Friday, 1-5 pm and Saturday 9 am – noon.

Sidney is home to the 1881 Second Empire courthouse; the 1877 Gothic revival Monumental Building, dedicated to the county's Civil War dead; and the 1918 early-modern People's Federal Savings and Loan Association designed by influential architect Louis Sullivan, which has been designated a National Historic Landmark.

CSX also operates the north–south rail line, which was better known in earlier years as the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and later as the Chessie System.

The Graceland Cemetery features monuments and memorials of large concrete angels and other structures and statues.

The city council appoints a professional manager to oversee the administrative operations, implement its objectives, and advise it on all related matters.

This east–west line was built as the Bellefontaine and Indiana Railroad which ran from Galion, Ohio to Union City on the Ohio-Indiana border.

In the early 1920s, this railroad relocated its tracks from downtown Sidney to the south edge of the city over the new Big Four concrete arch bridge.

Other concrete arch bridges in the region were designed and built for the Big Four; they are located in Avon and Greencastle, Indiana, and Danville, Illinois.

The Dixie Highway, later US 25, now known as County Rd 25A, ran north–south through downtown Sidney, connecting it with Toledo and Detroit to the north and Dayton and Cincinnati to the south.