The village was founded in 1788 by Paul Davison and Jonathan Gould, veterans of the
Sullivan Campaign, who had seen the area during the
American Revolution. The village of Lima was organized in 1797 as the "Village of Charleston", but in 1808 the name was changed to "Lima", after
Old Lyme, Connecticut. (For that reason, the name of the village is currently pronounced like the name of the
bean, not like the name of the city in
Peru).
The Genesee Wesleyan Seminary (1830) / Genesee College (1849) was one of the first co-educational schools in the country when it opened in 1822. Eventually, determined by a
Methodist-Episcopal convention in 1870, the college was shut in favor of the newly developed
Syracuse University (1871), over the protests of the residents of Lima.
Notable people
Belva Ann Lockwood, first female attorney to practice before the Supreme Court
Kenneth Keating, U.S. representative, senator, and ambassador to Israel
According to the
United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 1.4 square miles (3.5 km2), all land.[7] The eastern boundary of the village is formed by Spring Brook, a northward-flowing tributary of
Honeoye Creek and part of the
Genesee River watershed.
As of the
census[9] of 2000, there were 2,459 people, 770 households, and 532 families. The population density was 1,783.4 inhabitants per square mile (688.6/km2). There were 800 housing units at an average density of 580.2 per square mile (224.0/km2). The racial makeup of the village was 95.65%
White, 1.46%
Black or
African American, 0.41%
Native American, 0.73%
Asian, 0.12%
Pacific Islander, 0.49% from
other races, and 1.14% from two or more races.
Hispanic or
Latino of any race were 1.71% of the population.
There were 770 households, out of which 36.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.3% were
married couples living together, 10.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.8% were non-families. 25.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.59 and the average family size was 3.15.
In the village, the population was spread out, with 22.6% under the age of 18, 19.0% from 18 to 24, 29.4% from 25 to 44, 20.7% from 45 to 64, and 8.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females, there were 95.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.9 males.
The median income for a household in the village was $41,646, and the median income for a family was $52,102. Males had a median income of $29,966 versus $25,429 for females. The
per capita income for the village was $15,622. 5.3% of the population and 3.4% of families were below the
poverty line. 3.4% of those under the age of 18 and 6.6% of those 65 and older are all living below the poverty line.
^Numbers represent an alphabetical ordering by significant words. Various colorings, defined
here, differentiate
National Historic Landmarks and
historic districts from other NRHP buildings, structures, sites or objects.
^The eight-digit number below each date is the number assigned to each location in the
National Register Information System database, which can be viewed by clicking the number.