Reminisce

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

One address, two wildly different stories

Adrienne McGee

LIMA — The walls, if they could have spoken, would have surely told a story or two. The structure at 213 E. Wayne St. is no longer there, but we know snippets of its history nonetheless — thanks to archived newspaper accounts. The... Full story

The mall that never was

Laurie Omness

LIMA — People fondly recall visits to the malls in Lima — the Lima Mall, the American Mall and more — but one mall is often forgotten. Westwood Plaza would have been Lima’s very first mall. In the early 1950s, Horace Shock... Full story

Model Mills: The end of an era

Adrienne McGee

LIMA — Model Mills had built itself into a community powerhouse by the 1920s. The mill, located on Central Avenue at East Spring Street, opened operations in the late 1890s. It produced flour, mainly from winter wheat, to supply the entire... Full story

Model Mills produced flour for Lima, Part 1

Adrienne McGee

LIMA — The word gristmill brings to mind a barn in a bucolic setting, water wheel spinning away in the stream bubbling by. This was certainly how grain was milled into flour for a time — but Lima stepped up into modern age in 1894.... Full story

Let’s go to the drive-in

Adrienne McGee

LIMA — It’s a perfect combination, really: Cars, milkshakes and people watching. Drive-in restaurants were once all over town, turning going out for an ice cream cone into a social event. As young Limaites took part in the cruising... Full story

Lima's Renz bakery

Adrienne McGee

LIMA — It was once a giant. Renz’s bakery once was so large it had its own block in downtown Lima, baking bread for all of us. It all began with Jakob Frederick Renz, born in Pfulling, Germany. At age 16, he came to the United States... Full story

From Lima to the Great White Way

Adrienne McGee

LIMA — Never let them say you can’t. Donald MacDonald came from an ordinary Lima background and ended up appearing in Broadway plays and movies before his career came to a close. It seems the boy had talent, obvious even at a young... Full story

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