Reminisce

Speakeasies, gangsters and violence, final part

Adrienne McGee

LIMA — Homestead operator Arthur Miller couldn’t seem to keep his nose clean — feuding with other illegal alcohol and slot machine runners — and the law caught up with him in 1933. He was found guilty of killing Roy E. Boggs,... Full story

Speakeasies, gangsters and violence, part 2

Adrienne McGee

LIMA — The smoke cleared, albeit slowly, from that “fusilade of shots” at the Homestead in 1932. The roadhouse, residence and filling station complex at Kibby Street and Bellefontaine Road was the scene of a shoot-up that left Joe... Full story

Speakeasies, gangsters and violence, part 1

Adrienne McGee

LIMA — In the 1920s and ‘30s, an unassuming roadhouse on the east edge of Lima had more than its share of the action.  The Parks family farmed on the south side of Kibby Street at Bellefontaine Road, as it was then called. The... Full story

Restaurants felled by fire

Adrienne McGee

LIMA — Main Street Bistro’s destruction by fire Tuesday was only the latest in a long string of business ruined by fire in Lima. A look back at some of the bigger events: Old Barn Out Back In the 1970s, the Brothers Four Country Store... Full story

A stroll back to 1934

Adrienne McGee

LIMA — Everything about it is different. The newspaper is huge. The print is tiny. The photos are black and white. There are an astonishing 14 stories on the cover alone. Welcome to 1934. This Lima Sunday News, the Oct. 7, 1934, edition,... Full story

Relay Motors: Big plant, big trucks

Adrienne McGee

LIMA — Lima workers were ready when a breakthrough came to town. The July 29, 1927, papers announced Lima’s Garford Motor Truck Co. merged with Relay Motors Inc., of Wabash, Ind. Relay had previously acquired Service Motors Inc., also... Full story

Lima's stone quarries

Adrienne McGee

LIMA — It was tough, dirty work. There was a need for stone as Lima became more industrialized. Lima’s sidewalks were once slabs of blue limestone, and the crushed stone was used for roads. Quarries were dug along the Ottawa River, a... Full story

A mortician's mummies

Adrienne McGee

LIMA — He was an average man, working hard to advance his business in Lima at the turn of the 20th century. His name would hit the headlines, though, for a rather strange invention. Floyd Cornelius Whitley was born June 7, 1877, in Rockford.... Full story

Home sweet home: Siblings share memories of living in historic home

Adrienne McGee

The red brick farmhouse was a landmark on Lima’s east side. Built by Josiah B. Roberts in the 1800s, the house stood at what is now the corner of Leonard and Lenore avenues. Roberts farmed about 200 acres that stretched from the current Lima... Full story

Part one: The Roberts family farm

Adrienne McGee

LIMA — In the beginnings of Allen County, it took plain hard work to carve out a niche for yourself. One pioneer, Josiah B. Roberts, did just that. Roberts was born Feb. 22, 1822, in Frankford, Va. When he was 18 years old, he moved with his... Full story

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