170 Business View - May 2015
Real American Strength
Lima working hard toward infrastructure progress
Seeds for the 184-year-old city of Lima were planted
during a series of treaties in the years following the
American Revolution, and ultimately sprang to life
when the area’s original residents – members of the
Shawnee nation – surrendered their northwest Ohio
territory and relocated to Kansas.
The state legislature mandated that a county seat
be established for the area newly designated as Al-
len County, leading to Lima’s official incorporation in
1831.
The city has ridden out waves of boom and bust across
subsequent generations, rising high after the discov-
ery of oil and the strengthening of the rail industry,
then dipping significantly as that same rail industry
weakened and parts of a previously strong industrial
backbone withered away.
Population has declined incrementally in each U.S.
Census since 1970, when it stood at a historical high
of 53,734. It dipped 11 percent to 47,827 by 1980
and has subsequently dropped by 4.8, 12 and 3.3 per-
cent across counts in 1990, 2000 and 2010.
“We’re technically a Rust Belt city, but our local econ-
omy has been pretty steady,” said City Engineer Kirk
Niemeyer, who oversees an engineering division within
INFRASTRUCTURE
