Allen County Museum and Historical Society

Three weeks ago, I was able to view 15 mins worth of the museum and after vowed to return and give it at least 3 hrs. My main reason for visiting Lima was to search out any structures from the days of the Lima Locomotive Works. The museum has a display of a Shay locomotive so I was motivated to make a visit. As others have said, the collection covers a whole host of subjects but close to my heart are the rail history and the Civil War. The display cases were modern and clean and most of the objects had labels. According to one of the docents, the railroad archive/​library is simply vast.

With an eclectic mix of subject matter and a eye to local history one would think that the Allen County Historical Museum would lack focus and have little to offer; but the historical society here has artfully cobbled together widely diverse themes, from trains and tank to eccentric ephemeral, into a cohesive whole making a trip through this surprisingly large building an enjoyable experience. You may not think it is much at first, but after a stroll through you will see why it is included in the American Association of Museums.
Photographs of Lima’s history, a model 19^th century school room, exhibits of stagecoaches, locomotives, Sherman tanks, and street car vie for attention with the interestingly weird and offbeat.
Including: an automotive diorama of the Noah’s ark story. Build in the early 1900 by Jacob Grosjeans to entertain and teach children while their parents shopped in his store, the display runs on gears, pulleys, and chains. it is a marvel of early Industrial Age know how. The pieces are either sculpted, or are real stuffed animals formed in the folk art style that may remind you, if knowledgeable, of the woodcarvings of Columbus’ Elija Peirce. Complete with original recordings and music coming off what I believe is a wax cylinder, the exhibit is a visual and audio blast from the past.
The museum also showcases manakins depicting John Dilinger’s escape from the Allen County Jail. They also show video that tell the entire story of the outlaw, his escape, and his murdering of the county sherif; it’s a classic chapter of prohibition lore.
The topper is a display showcasing item people have swallowed and later fished out by a couple Dr and saved. Rubber hose pieces, teeth, keys, are just some of the things that people have gulped down.
Those are just some of the curiosities that haunts their halls. Add the extensive genealogy library, the locomotion collection, and the natural history/​geology wing and the Allan County Museum is a multiple-​use place rich in subject matter – and weirdness.
The hours are limited; there is no charge but a suggested donation of $ 5. If you find yourself Lost In Middle America (Lima) with time to spare, stop in. It’s worth the time.

Given Lima’s modest size and relative lack of wealth, the Allen County Museum is impressively large and pretty amazing. It has enough oddities that it’s worth a detour if you’re heading up or down I-​75 and have an hour or two to spare.
I’ll acknowledge that the sprawling space is largely filled with a lot of homespun local history that may not interest everyone: models of local grand homes that were demolished long ago, various old furnishings and carriages going back to Ohio’s frontier days, many exhibits devoted to Lima’s one-​time prominence in locomotive manufacturing and as a major railroad hub, and a wall honoring LIma’s famous and not-​so-​famour (Phyllis Diller, Hugh Downs, and a bunch of folks I’d never heard of).
But there are at least a few exhibits that warrant the detour: First and foremost are the fascinating, bizarre, and rather macabre animated taxidermy spectacles created by local shoe salesman James Grosjean in the late 1800s and early 1900s. One is a ferris wheel with rotating animals but the craziest is the Noah’s Ark exhibit with a recorded biblical narrative and music, the latter probably from the 1970s. The attendant on duty will likely be glad to start these machines up for you, if they’re currently in working order. Second, there’s a decent section devoted to John Dillinger’s confinement in the local jail and his jailbreak, which was accomplished by the murder of the sheriff. Third, there’s a Lima history exhibit with model trains, much like the excellent «Cincinnati in Motion» exhibit at the Cincinnati Museum Center, except that this Lima exhibit is about a tenth of the size.
N.B. Apparently due to the sour economy, the museum’s hours are limited. On the Tuesday we were there, it did not open until 1pm.