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Our Genealogy Helper

Introduction ...

We have a couple of goals for our Gazetteer:

  • That it be a tool which helps us with planning our trips.
  • We're trying to shape our Gazetteer as a tool to help us understand the community in which our ancestors lived, the community that was part of their daily lives.
  • On our trips, we try to visit those places where our ancestors left their footprints.

By learning about Lima (and the surrounding area) during the time that our ancestors lived, we hope to have a better understanding of both their community and its relationship to their lifes. We hope that this tool helps to give us an insight into their world.

As we add data and organize our Gazetteer to help with our family research, we will be adding to this our Genealogical Helper for Lima. While we don't have information that is specific to any given person or family, we intend to expand our understanding about where and how people lived.

Name Variations for Lima ...

When searching records, keep in mind that names and their spelling can change over time. Our sources include documents like maps, railroad schedules, Travel, Express and Shipping Guides. Many of these documents date from the 1800's and it's common to find spelling differences.

In past government published Postal Guides, Lima was referred to as Lima Courthouse.

You might be interested in other communities that are also named Lima. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Lima.

If you have information about these names (such as the reason for the change, date of change, the origin of the name), please Contact Us.

For more information about how community names might have been affected by the Board of Geographic Names (BGN), see our page about Placename Rules.

Neighboring Counties ...

When searching for family records, we have frequently made the mistake of not checking the neighboring counties.

For example, we have great-grandparents who lived in the northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors were in the next county to the east. Almost all of the nearby churches and cemeteries were in the county to the north.

So when searching for records, we had our best success by looking in neighboring counties instead of the county in which they lived:  their home county contained property and probate records; the county to the east contained birth and death records; the county to the north contained their burial records. If we hadn't included the neighboring counties, we would have missed many valuable sources of information.

If you're in a similar situation, we hope that the following information helps.

Lima is located in Allen County and is the County Seat.

To see how the shape of Ohio's counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Allen County: Auglaize, Hancock, Hardin, Putnam & Van Wert.

Below are the counties that are near Lima. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Lima:

  • Allen County     (The home county of Lima)
  • Auglaize County
  • Hancock County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lima, with the one closest to Lima listed first.
    • Mount Cory
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • New Stark
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • New Stark is located in Hancock County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Stark
    • Cannonsburg ‑ Historic
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Jenera
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Rawson
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Moffitt ‑ Historic
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Williamstown
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Williamstown is located in Hancock County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williamstown
    • Benton Ridge
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Benton Ridge is located in Hancock County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benton Ridge
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 289 people
    • Arlington
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Lewisburg ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Mount Blanchard
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
    • McComb
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Hardin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lima, with the one closest to Lima listed first.
    • Alger
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Ada
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Ada is located in Hardin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ada
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,532 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ada <1>
    • Huntersville
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Huntersville is located in Hardin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huntersville
    • McGuffey
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • McGuffey is located in Hardin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McGuffey
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 484 people
    • Roundhead
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Jumbo
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Dola
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Dunkirk
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Kenton
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Grant
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • McVitty
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
    • Patterson
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Patterson is located in Hardin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Patterson
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 135 people
  • Henry County
  • Logan County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lima, with the one closest to Lima listed first.
    • Lakeview
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Russells Point
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Belle Center
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • New Richland
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Huntsville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Logansville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Rushsylvania
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Marl City
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Marl City is located in Logan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marl City
  • Mercer County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lima, with the one closest to Lima listed first.
    • Mendon
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Mercer
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Mercer is located in Mercer County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mercer
    • Earley ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Earley is located in Mercer County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Earley
    • Celina
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Rockford
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Tama
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Chickasaw
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Montezuma
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Paulding County
  • Putnam County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lima, with the one closest to Lima listed first.
    • Jones City
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Jones City is located in Putnam County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jones City
    • Rimer
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Columbus Grove
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Fort Jennings
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Pandora
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Pandora is located in Putnam County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pandora
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,101 people
    • Kalida
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Ottoville
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Glandorf
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Ottawa
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Muntanna
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Gilboa
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Cloverdale
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Dupont
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
  • Shelby County
  • Van Wert County

For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Lima, see our County-by-County Page for Lima.

Cemeteries Near Lima ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Lima.

This is a new section and is likely to have errors. If you find an error, such as a missing cemetery or we have the wrong name, please let us know. If you know of them, we would also appreciate learning about previous or alternate names.

Although we don't have the information ourselves, if you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our list of websites on our Genealogy Helper Page for Lima - one of the links might be able to help.

If not found below, our Cemetery List for Lima covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Lima, with the one closest to Lima listed first.

Nearby Communities in 1895 ...

We've built the following list with information that came from an Atlas published by Rand McNally in 1895. The Atlas had details such as the population of the community (which appears to have come from the 1890 Census) and whether there was a post office and/or railroad service available. We also indicate if the community no longer exists and is now historic.<3>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Lima had a population of 15,985 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Lima had a population of 36,440 people.

These communities are listed based on their distance from Lima, with the one closest to Lima listed first.

  • Yoder
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Yoder is located in Allen County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yoder
  • Allentown
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Allentown is located in Allen County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allentown
  • Elida
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Elida is located in Allen County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elida
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,810 people
  • Kemp
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Kemp is located in Allen County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kemp
  • Cridersville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • West Cairo
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • West Cairo is located in Allen County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Cairo
  • Cairo
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Cairo is located in Allen County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cairo
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 520 people
  • Hume
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Hume is located in Allen County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hume
  • South Warsaw
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • South Warsaw is located in Allen County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Warsaw
  • Westminster
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Lafayette
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Gomer
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Conant
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Vaughnsville
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Vaughnsville is located in Putnam County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vaughnsville
    • Uniopolis
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)

We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Lima. See our List of 1890's Communities around Lima.

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Lima ...

An ongoing effort between the Library of Congress and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has resulted in the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP).

To share their results, the partnership has created the Chronicling America website. The goal of this partnership is to assemble a database about the current and historic newspapers of the United States. This includes a growing collection of scanned images from selected papers. All of it available to the public on their website.

Using information that we've taken from the Chronicling America website, we've identified 117 newspapers that have been published in the area around Lima.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Lima. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Lima and those printed in the larger area surrounding Lima.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 24 miles [38.6 km]<4> of Lima.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we like to start with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These websites offer the information directly or else point to where you can find it. Their information is open to everyone.

To help you get started, the following links will take you to the pages that are relevant to Lima:

Footnotes ...

<1>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<2>The Find-a-Grave website is an excellent research tool with information about a cemetery's location and interments. They also offer a forum for their members which can provide additional help. More information about Find-a-Grave can be found on their website: findagrave.com.
<3>We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Lima, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Lima) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.