Lima is a midsize city in northwestern Ohio, sitting along Interstate 75 in Allen County, of which it is the county seat. It sits on the banks of the Ottawa River and was founded in 1831 — named, oddly enough, after Lima, Peru, because the quinine bark used to treat malaria in the pioneer days came from there.
The city's industrial roots run deep. Lima was a locomotive-building powerhouse in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and the Shay Locomotive — a geared steam engine designed for hauling timber out of steep terrain — was first manufactured here in 1880. The Allen County Museum holds a No. 10 Shay from 1925 and is genuinely one of the better county history museums in Ohio; the MacDonell House Victorian mansion sits on the same campus. Lincoln Park along the Ottawa River displays the Nickel Plate 779, the last steam locomotive built at the Lima plant.
Less visibly, Lima is home to the Lima Army Tank Plant — the only facility in the United States that produces the M1 Abrams main battle tank, operating continuously since 1941.
Lima has a working arts scene — the Lima Symphony Orchestra has been performing since 1953, and the city hosts Broadway touring productions. The surrounding countryside offers good reservoir fishing and a surprising number of golf courses for a city this size.