Sinful Sidney - TravelStorys

Sinful Sidney

Sponsored by Sidney Historic Preservation Board

  • Location: Nebraska
  • Travel Type: Walking
  • Trip Time: 30 minutes
  • Language:

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About This Tour

Fort Sidney

Camp Lookout

“Sinful Sidney”, “Toughest Town on the Tracks”, “Wickedest Town in the West”—are a few of the names used to describe the town of Sidney, Nebraska. With good reason, too, as you will learn in this audio walking tour.

Before gold was discovered in the Black Hills in 1875, Sidney was a small town of 500 residents. By the following year, that number jumped to 1,000 people. During the Black Hills gold rush, up to 1,500 travelers passed through Sidney per day, seeking their fortunes in the mines.

You can almost picture the hundreds of people walking through the streets, stepping off the trains, and getting into stagecoaches. Business boomed. As many as 80 saloons, gaming halls, and brothels lined this street along the railroad tracks. At the height of the gold rush, Sidney’s population swelled to 5,000 people.

Sidney became the place legends came to visit. The likes of Wild Bill Hickok, Calamity Jane, Buffalo Bill Cody, Butch Cassidy, Walter Reed, and Doc Middleton all made their way through its dusty streets.

But it was not all crooks and cowboys in Sinful Sidney. This tour also features the Sidney Christ Episcopal Church, Sidney Carnegie Library, and the Fort Sidney Museum. Learn about the history of the heyday of “Sinful” Sidney, Nebraska.

Enjoy this tour on your way south from Rapid City and Scottsbluff, or en route to Sterling or Fort Morgan, or while spending some time in Sidney.

Tour Sponsors
The City of Auburn prepared this tour. The completion was funded in part with the assistance of a federal historic preservation fund grant from the National Park Service, a division of the United States Department of the Interior.

However, the contents and opinions expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the U.S. Department of the Interior.

Find More Tours Near You
If you are interested in more audio tours in the region, check out Roads through WY: I-80. Also, keep an eye out at TravelStorys.com for tours coming soon that feature Sterling and Fort Morgan, Colorado. Every place has a story.

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Tour Excerpts

About This Tour

Fort Sidney

Camp Lookout

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