From the few records still available, it is apparent the original name of the hotel once located at 125 West Court Street was the Morgan House.  Known in its final years as the Steinkemper, the name Morgan came about in an interesting way.  In March of 1882 WILLIAM VAN FOSSEN, prominent businessman, let a contract to build a three-story boarding house and hotel opposite the Miller Carriage Works and the west end of the newly constructed Civil War Memorial, the Monumental Building.  From the 38 rooms Van Fossen reserved a suite of four rooms to be living quarters for himself and his wife.

In September 1883, before Van Fossen attended to all the details necessary to the opening of his newest business venture, a man named  H.S. Harris came to Sidney from Springfield.  He began to negotiate with Van Fossen to lease the hotel, stating he had been in business in Cincinnati as a partner in the Dennison Hotel where he was officially the cashier.  A friend, Mr. Gunnison, who was an associate in the Cincinnati hotel, would assist and advise him. An agreement was made.  Harris was to pay $720 yearly in monthly installments of $60 for the lease.  In return, Van Fossen was to give Harris $500 each year for the room and board of himself and Mrs. Van Fossen.  Harris’s friend, Gunnison, bought furniture for the rooms.  Eager to begin the hotel business, Harris’s first action was to give the place a name.  He decided on the Morgan House to honor his father Morgan Harris of New York City.  For a time the hotel did a fair amount of business.  During the days of finishing the new court house the patronage of the workmen brought in a brief prosperity to the host.

In February 1884 Van Fossen hosted a reunion of the Shelby County Californians of which he was a member, in the hotel. It was the first, and possibly the last, social affair in the Morgan House.

After about a year business began to wane.  Harris was forced to buy his kitchen supplies on credit and to ask uncertain days of grace from Van Fossen.  By late 1884, Harris was desperate.  He was hounded on all sides by creditors.  The ads he placed in local newspapers offering board for $1 per day, meals for 25 cents and lodging for 25 cents a night did little to improve his situation.

One day in mid December Gunnison appeared.  Quickly grasping the disastrous financial position of his friend, he suggested Harris and his family get out of town at once.  It was agreed.  Gunnison gave Harris $65 travel money and another $20 to pay the domestic help.  That same night the Harris family took the midnight train out of Sidney, headed east.  Nex morning Van Fossen discovered the flight and issued an attachment for the household effects.  The rooms were poorly furnished and the overall value was appraised at $300.  When questioned Gunnison was reticent to speculate on the future of the Morgan House but gave the impression it would close, which it did.  It is believed the hotel was called the Morgan House for only the brief time it was in charge of Mr. Harris.

Little is known of the hotel for the next few years.  In 1915 David Oldham as owner of the building, now called the Central Hotel, filed an injunction against the Western Ohio Freight House, located adjacent to the hotel.  Oldham asked the company be restrained from loading freight between the hours of 11 p.m. & 2 a.m., charging the noise interrupted the sleep of the guests.  The hotel had been leased by Oldham to C.D. Sproul and had been in operation since 1895.

In subsequent years the name changed several times.  At one time it may have been called the Sidney House.  From directories and newspaper ads, it is known other hotels at that address wee named the Belmont, the Granger and the Steinkemper, as well as the Central Hotel.

In 1911, while the hotel was called the Belmont, a severely injured man was brought there.  He had been struck by a train and his injuries proved fatal.  He never regained consciousness and was never identified.  County officials buried him in an unmarked grave at the Infirmary Cemetery.

At one time it was customary for physicians from larger towns to arrange visits in Sidney to offer free consultations to persons desiring their services.   They would rent a room, or rooms, in one of the hotels, place large ads in the local papers describing their skills and when and where they would see patients. Most hotels, including the Central, welcomed the doctors.

In 1925, a remarkable physician, judging from his advertisement in local newspapers, came to the Central.  He was Dr. Frederick Blanker, well know and famous for treatment of all ailments of men or women, from those of internal organs to ulcerated teeth..  To those suffering from the latter, he promised instant relief and painless extractions without the use of chloroform, ether or novocaine.  During the procedure the relaxed patients would sit comfortably in a rocking chair.

The last owner of the hotel, then called the Steinkemper, was EUGENE MINNEAR.  He purchased the building from Ralph Oldham about 1940.  Minnear made it the headquarters of all bus transportation in Sidney and of his own business, Buck’s Taxi and Storage.  Some years later the hotel was demolished and a Sohio filling station was built on the site.