The new sign at the Tennie Burton Museum. Photo provided by Lima Historical Society
BY DEB AND TIM SMITH
When we were at the Lima Crossroads Festival just a few weeks ago we spent some time visiting with our friends at the Lima Historical Society tent on the lawn of the Lima Presbyterian Church. Martha Sempowski is the President of the LHS and, over the years, she has spent hours with us, during multiple visits to the organization’s Tennie Burton Museum located at 1850 Rochester St. Whenever our Sentinel research projects involve Lima history, Lima Historical Society members are magical in their assistance!
Our most recent book had not only a chapter on Lima, but also a chapter on the hamlet of South Lima, and LHS members Duane and Gail Fuller were instrumental in researching that component, having been past residents of South Lima. While reliving some of those memories, the topic came up that a new sign had been recently put in place at the Tennie Burton Museum and we thought the community would enjoy getting a glimpse of that. Check out the picture included here.
This colorful new sign was installed at the museum on July 29th 2025, thanks to months of design, color, and size consideration by the LHS Sign Committee—Elizabeth Osta, Gail Fuller and Kathie Reynolds. They enlisted Signlanguage Inc. of Perry NY to work with them and carry out the results. Al Lacey had designed and built the most recent former sign many years ago, and while everyone loved it, its age now called for too many repairs by Buildings and Ground Chair, Duane Fuller, to be able to maintain it.
The museum is open every Sunday afternoon from now until the end of September and it definitely makes for an interesting visit and an intriguing trip back in time. Stop by if you get the chance and consider the opportunity to enjoy the new sign as a free added bonus!
