When you look up to the buildings in downtown Sidney you may wonder, who were the people that these buildings are named after? The town known as Sinful Sidney had another side to it that is rarely talked about -- the men and women that came here and started businesses. The actual founders of the town. 

Let's go back in time to January of 1904, to a devastating fire that destroyed a business block in the downtown of Sidney. In the early hours, H.G. Hall, a local photographer, woke to a room filled with smoke. He had been sleeping in the Doran Gallery in the McMullan building. He made two quick calls to Mr. Doran and then Mr. McMullan. People walking by also sounded the alarm. 

Fire Chief Sanders issued the hose cart to start streaming water into the McMullan store, trying to contain the flames coming through from the basement. A second line focused directly on the fire in the basement. 

The fire was thought to be under control until the flames started in the Casper Girmann Meat Market. The fire came through the wall between the two buildings. A ladder was then dispatched to the top of the building and water was run between the walls.

The pumps at the railroad roundhouse were broken, so no water could be used on the roof. While this was being worked on, the fire broke out in the Girmann and McMullan buildings again. This time there was no saving either building. 

Two fire companies faced the heat and overwhelming danger to save the surrounding buildings and downtown. Despite this effort, the next building lost was the McAleese building, which housed the Owl Saloon and the Clean Kitchen Restaurant. Luckily, the fireproof wall of the building held the fire from going farther north down the block. The wall was made of stone two feet thick. Though the paper on the interior wall crackled from the heat, the wall itself showed no damage. 

The Telegraph occupied the entire east half of the second floor of the building. They were saved by the stone fire wall as well.

The town rallied with 100 people forming a bucket brigade to prevent the fire from spreading. The American Bank building and the Tobin and Harper buildings were in danger of the blaze. The bucket brigade worked to prevent the rest of the downtown from the same fate. The heat from the fire left both buildings with no window unbroken. 

The Greenlee and Benson stores 100 feet away also sustained broken glass. The Tobin building, which had recently been painted, had the paint peel from the building and fall from the wood. Even the bunting on hose carts a half block away started on fire.

The loss to the business owners amounted to nearly $23,000 (equivalent to more than $800,000 today), with only $9,850 covered by insurance. The McMullan half of the building, which was 22 by 76 feet and two stories high, accounted for a large portion of the loss. 

Later in August of 1904, James McMullan stood before a judge when the creditors sued for $1,257.66 of unpaid debt. McMullan had taken out an additional $3,000 in insurance a few days before the fire to his store. In a claim of $4,000, he had hurriedly settled with the insurance companies for $2,259, which left the creditors short and looking for payment on the balance. 

The lot sat in ruins until Charles C. Callahan and his wife began building a new structure in 1908 to replace the destroyed McMullen building. Callahan named it the Cleburne Block to honor his wife, Mary E. Cleburne Callahan. The building's first tenant was Sidney Drug. 

The second story of the building included a very elegant-for-the-time apartment for the Callahans, even sporting a marble fireplace. The space later became medical and professional offices. 

They owned the building until 1912, when James McIntosh purchased the building and renamed it the McIntosh building. The drug store was managed by W.F. Bassett from 1909 to 1920. The other tenants included the Baldwin Confectionery, a harness shop, shoe repair, cigar store and a cafe. 

McIntosh later transferred the ownership of the building to his daughter, Grace McIntosh. The building stayed in the McIntosh family until 1987. 

Wendall Gaston purchased the building in 1987. Gaston still owns the building and is only the fifth owner of the building. Tropical Nails & Spa has occupied the part of the building facing Illinois Street since 2016. Recently there has been a new business on the first floor facing 10th Street. “Take Shelter,” a business that combines books and adult beverages. Fletcher Primm fondly remembered concerts at the Shelter House at Legion Park where the name “Take Shelter” came from.