Sheridan was plotted as a town by John D. Loucks in 1882 on the back of a sheet of wrapping paper. Sheridan was named after one of John Loucks’s civil war officers, General Sheridan. The town was approved and incorporated in 1884. With the coming of the railroad, the opening of many coal mines, the settling of the ranch lands and the arrival of the townspeople, Sheridan quickly grew to a populated town of 1,559 people by 1900.
The early wood frame, false front buildings were replaced by sturdier structures of brick and stone between 1910 and 1920. These are the buildings which you will see on your walking tour. Sheridan S. Main Street District was enrolled in the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. It is officially known as Sheridan Main Street Historic District #164.
Grinnell Plaza: Mayor John D. Loucks, founder of Sheridan, named several streets after his close friends. Grinnell Street/Plaza was named after Cornelius Howland Grinnell. Mr. Grinnell came to Sheridan in 1880 and started a livestock industry on the land where the city now stands. In 1899 he turned his special attention to building and contracting, laying out the Grinnell addition to the town of Sheridan, and erecting most of the substantial houses in Sheridan. Along with Hamma and Downer, Grinnell received the contract to dig a canal for a new channel for Little Goose creek. 240 acres were added to the towns-site, thus avoiding building numerous bridges over Little Goose Creek.
In 1902 he was elected city marshal and water commissioner. Mr. Grinnell died March 3, 1916.