1720History
The Ohio Frontier: Crucible of the Old Northwest, 1720–1830 (1996)
Jacobs, T.
1794History
== History ==
=== Establishment ===
In the years after the American Revolution, the Shawnee were the most prominent residents of west central Ohio, growing in numbers and perm...
1812Military
=== Healthcare ===
The first doctor in Allen County, Samuel Jacob Lewis, was assigned to duty at Fort Amanda in 1812.
1817Culture
By 1817, the United States had created the Hog Creek Reservation for the local Shawnee, covering portions of what would become Allen and Auglaize counties, and including part of...
1820Government
The creation of the Shawnee reservation freed other lands in the area for settlement, and in February 1820, the Ohio legislature formally established Allen County.
1831Government
Lima was founded in 1831.
1832Education
The first school appeared in 1832.
1836History
1836 brought the first newspaper to Lima.
1842History
Lima was officially organized as a city in 1842.
1850Education
The first public school opened in 1850.
1854History
In 1854, the first train appeared in Lima, a harbinger of later economic success.
1856Military
East-west passenger service to Lima began in 1856, when the Ohio & Indiana consolidated with the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago.
1858Infrastructure
North-south passenger service began in 1858 on the Dayton & Michigan Railroad.
1860Architecture
Machine shops for the Dayton & Michigan were built in Lima by 1860, and for the Lake Erie and Western Railroad by 1880.
1869Culture
The Lima Agricultural Works began operations in 1869.
1878Sports
The shop designed its first narrow-gauge steam locomotive in 1878.
1881History
In 1881, Shay granted the Lima works an exclusive license to manufacture his locomotives.
1882Architecture
In 1882, under the name Lima Machine Works, the industry built the first Shay-geared locomotive.
1884Military
The discovery of natural gas deposits there in 1884 led to national marketing efforts advertising free gas, as Findlay's business leaders tried to "boom" the town.
1885Economy
Stimulated by the economic boom in nearby Findlay, in 1885 Lima businessman Benjamin C.
1886Government
Countywide problems caused by the contaminated water supply were not solved until 1886 when Lima started a municipal water system.
1887Economy
Between 1887 and 1905, the Lima Oil Field was a world-class producer, yielding 300 million barrels (48,000,000 m3).
1893Architecture
Lima oil lit the buildings of the 1893 World's Fair.
1899History
Lima Memorial Health System, formerly Lima Memorial Hospital, a level 2 trauma center, can trace its roots to 1899, when it began as Lima City Hospital.
1901Economy
By 1901, the excitement about Ohio oil slowed with the news of a Beaumont, Texas, gusher producing 100,000 barrels per day (16,000 m3/d).
1902Government
Lima service on the electric interurban Ohio Western Railway began in 1902 and Lima became the hub of an interurban network that reached Toledo, Cleveland and Cincinnati as well...
1904History
Production peaked in 1904, and then dropped off rapidly.
1906History
In 1906, an average of 143 trains and 7,436 cars, carrying 223,080 tons of freight, passed through Lima every 24 hours.
1907Architecture
In 1907, Lima built its first movie theater.
1908Architecture
The hospital was constructed between 1908 and 1915.
1909Architecture
The Ottawa Valley Hospital, which opened in 1909 as the District Tuberculosis Hospital, was one of the first in the state dedicated to the treatment of tubercular patients.
1910History
By 1910, the field was regarded as virtually played out.
1911Economy
In 1911, the courts declared Standard Oil Trust a monopoly and broke it into several companies.
1912Government
Lima proved itself to be very much in the Progressive tradition with these changes, after flirting with radicalism in 1912 when the voters elected a Socialist mayor.
1916History
In time, the Lima Locomotive Works – a name formally adopted in 1916 – would produce 2,761 Shay locomotives, which were sent to 48 states and 24 foreign countries.
1918Government
St Rita's Hospital, founded in 1918, opened a seven-story addition in 1948.
1920Government
In 1920, Lima was served by five steam railroads and Allen County by eight, in addition to five electric interurban lines.
1921History
In 1921, Lima voters approved a change in the structure of Lima city government.
1923History
On August 1, 1923, a KKK parade in Lima drew a crowd estimated at 100,000 people.
1925History
In 1925, Lima Locomotive Works, Inc.
1927History
In 1927, local industrialist John E.
1928Infrastructure
It produced railroad cars in the early years and acquired the Ohio Power Shovel Company in 1928.
1930Infrastructure
In 1930, eight railroad companies served Lima.
1933History
In 1933, Lima again reorganized its government.
1934History
By 1934, industrial employment was reduced by half.
1935Government
In 1935, Westinghouse located a Small Motor Division in Lima to build fractional horsepower electric motors.
1936History
In 1936, the notorious Brady Gang robbed a local jewelry store twice.
1937Government
Electric interurban service ceased in 1937.
1940History
By 1940, there were at least fifty labor unions representing local workers.
1941Military
The Lima Army Tank Plant, officially called the Joint Systems Manufacturing Center, was built in 1941 and is the sole producer of the M1 Abrams tank.
1942Economy
In November 1942, United Motors Services took over the operation of the plant to process vehicles under government contract.
1945History
The hospital saw major expansions 1945 and 1967.
1947Military
Post-war mergers attempting to keep the plant operating created the Lima-Hamilton Corporation in 1947 and later Baldwin-Lima-Hamilton in 1950.
1949History
779, was delivered May 13, 1949.
1951Architecture
The final diesel locomotive, built by Lima-Hamilton, was delivered in 1951.
1953Culture
== Arts and culture ==
In January 1953, a committee composed of John LaRotonda, Ben Schultz, Dom Trovarelli and Fred Mills organized the Lima Symphony Orchestra.
1954Government
This committee selected Lawrence Burkhalter as the Symphony's first conductor and the LSO made its debut performance on May 23, 1954, in the Central High School auditorium.
1959History
The Nickel Plate Road ended scheduled passenger service to Lima in 1959.
1962Architecture
In 1962, a new Allen County Airport was built in Perry Township.
1966Architecture
With the passage of the city income tax in 1966, Lima constructed a new facility for the Lima Police Department.
1968Infrastructure
The formerly elite Broadway Limited began making stops in 1968 after the New York Central and the Pennsylvania railroad merged to form the Penn Central.
1969Economy
In January 1969, a crude oil line in south Lima ruptured, causing 77,000 US gallons (290,000 L) of oil to escape into the city's sewer system.
1970Crime
In August 1970, further conflict erupted when a black woman was killed by police as she tried to prevent the arrest of a juvenile.
1971Infrastructure
In April 1971, the last "Cincinnatian," of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad stopped in Lima.
1973History
In 1973, Lima's District Tuberculosis Center, which served five counties, closed its doors.
1974Economy
Clark employed 1,500 as late as 1974, but the plant closed permanently in 1981.
1976History
(ed.) The 1976 History of Allen County (1976)
Hirsimaki, Eric.
1978Civil Rights
Patients sometimes staged dramatic protests against the conditions of their confinement, and frequently escaped (more than 300 escapes by 1978).
1981Economy
Superior Coach Company, once the nation's largest producer of buses, closed in 1981, as did Clark Equipment.
1982Crime
Starting in 1982, Lima State Hospital became a medium-security prison, the Lima Correctional Institution.
1983Infrastructure
The fictional killer of Buckwheat in 1983 episodes of Saturday Night Live, John David Stutts, was reported to be from Lima, Ohio.
1985Economy
Airfoil Textron closed in 1985, and Sundstrand (formerly Westinghouse) followed ten years later.
1986Disaster
Lima: The History (1986)
Hurricane, Chris.
1989Government
Moyer was defeated in a 1989 election by David J.
1990History
Freight still moves over most of the historic rail routes in and out of the city, but the last passenger train to stop in Lima was the Broadway Limited, then operated by Amtrak,...
1991Infrastructure
Many of these services were maintained by Amtrak until 1991, when the former Erie Lackawanna and Pennsylvania Railroad mainlines between New York and Chicago were downgraded.
1993History
A Pictorial History of Lima/Allen County (1993)
Stark, Marilyn R.
1995History
== Sister cities ==
Lima's Sister Cities Association, formed in 1995, has one current sister city as designated by Sister Cities International.
1997Culture
The region's first open-heart surgery was performed at Lima Memorial on April 22, 1997.
1999History
Lima's population dropped from 52,000 in the 1970s to 45,000 in 1999.
2000History
=== 2000 census ===
As of the census of 2000, there were 40,081 people, 15,410 households, and 9,569 families residing in the city.
2003Government
"The Interurban System: Electric Trains Eased Rural Isolation," The Lima News, Aug., 16, 2003, p A5
Lackey, Mike.
2004Crime
The prison closed in 2004, though a smaller prison on the site, the Allen Correctional Institution, remains.
2005History
As of 2005, some were in use 100 years after they were shipped.
2006Crime
The city has the highest crime rate for a city its size (20–60,000) in Ohio and also the 9th highest per capita in 2006, according to the FBI.
2010History
=== 2010 census ===
As of the census of 2010, there were 38,771 people, 14,221 households, and 8,319 families residing in the city.
2016History
As of the 2016–2017 television season, Lima is ranked by Nielsen Media Research as the second smallest television market in Ohio, ahead of only Zanesville, and the 190th nationw...
2019History
The YWCA would be demolished decades later, coming down in 2019.
2020History
It is the principal city of the Lima metropolitan area, which had 102,000 residents in 2020 and is included in the Lima–Van Wert–Wapakoneta combined statistical area.
2021Government
Upon Berger's retirement in November 2021, his chief of staff, Sharetta Smith, was sworn in as mayor after winning her election earlier in the month.
2023Culture
Started in 2023, Lima is the home of the Ohio Extreme, a professional indoor soccer team that plays in MLIS.