On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lima is more historic than 58% of U.S. towns, #169 of 362 in Wisconsin. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Lima’s overall grade.
Wisconsin towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Wisconsin town has 3.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Lima’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (28% of Wisconsin towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.3 points).
Founding year: our sources. Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Lima’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The story so far
Lima, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Lima yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Lima () is a town in Sheboygan County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 2,956 at the 2020 census. It is included in the Sheboygan, Wisconsin Metropolitan Statistical Area. The unincorporated communities of Gibbsville, Hingham, and Ourtown are located in the town. The ghost town of Kennedy Corners was also located in the town.
Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 2,982 in 2010, 2,956 in 2020.
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Lima in 1912
Passages that mention Lima, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Sheboygan County, Wisconsin, past and present1912 · page 68Read the page →
Read the text
Stedman, C. D. Cole, David Giddings, a shoemaker named McNish, and a Mr. Palmer. William Trowbridge and son Benjamin had located two miles west of the Falls. In what is now the town of Lima were A. G. Dye, J. D., E. L. and James Gibbs, Dr. Hoffman and Benjamin Firrman. These settlers had planted their stakes for homes amidst the primeval forests, in Digitized by Google
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Sheboygan County, Wisconsin, past and present1912 · page 216Read the page →
Read the text
SOME PIONEER DOCTORS One of the first settlers %in the town of Lima was Dr. Hoffman, who located in 1840. Guy Benjamin Shepard was in Sheboygan Falls as early as 1839, and lived in the third frame house built in the village.
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.
Timeline
Lima, 1846 to 1954
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Lima is more historic than 58% of U.S. towns, #169 of 362 in Wisconsin. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
How old are the homes in Lima?
29% of Lima’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.3 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1973.
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).
From Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System 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.
