Most of Lima was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1984. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1894 on, and old-book passages.
The Middletown Friends Meetinghouse was built in 1702 and is one of the oldest Friends meetinghouses in what was originally Chester County. Lima played an important role in the anti-slavery movement. Not only did residents advocate for manumission, noted local families such as the Van Leers and Foxes bought and sold lots to free black tradesmen or only to people who were supportive of the free black community. The location was known as The Village of Lima and is now known as Van Leer Avenue. The local community grew with support from local neighbors.
The John J. Tyler Arboretum was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003.
Passages that mention Lima, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Delaware County, Pennsylvania1884 · page 617Read the page →
Read the text
Lima Methodist Episcopal Church.— William L. Fox, Eleanor Fox, James Permar, John Pyle, and four other persons, in 1833, organized a Methodist society at Lima, which was placed under charge of James Riddle, a local preacher. For about six months meetings for worship were held at the dwelling of William L. Fox, now owned by John Porson, after which period the school-house then belonging
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
By decade
Lima, decade by decade
2 decades in the archive, from the 1870s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (6), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
1875
1933
1933
2010