The History of the Shelby County Historical Society

There is an innate sense of history and legacy in every culture. A mixture of curiosity and the sense of obligation cause people to record the accomplishments of their age and those before them. So it was in Shelby County.

Before there was an organized group with the stated purpose of preserving history, individuals wrote down their family history and those whom they knew. The 1927 ‘Homecoming’ celebration held in Sidney resulted in many such articles. 

The earliest recorded effort to preserve a collective history was that of the members of the Writer’s Project in Shelby County.  Paul Sherman was the key participant in the Writers Project of the late 1930s. He was ably assisted by Minor Dow of Sidney as editor. This project was apparently funded by the WPA. Mr. Dow sought “Indian relics, old documents, old books, flags, maps, etc.” It is unknown what became of these early efforts.