Keystone Meats Lima Lineage

Our Meat Packing Roots Stretch Back Well Over 100 Years

Lima Packing Company was founded in 1898 and quickly became a dominant feature of vibrant downtown Lima. The company processed hundreds of cattle and hogs daily alongside the downtown shopping district until 1954 when it closed.

During this time, Raymond L. Dorley was a livestock buyer for Lima Packing Company. When his son, Raymond B. Dorley, came back from WWII, he joined his father in the meat business as a cattle buyer for the company. When the Lima Packing Company closed in 1954, the father and son together bought another meat packer in town known as Hoegner & Cantieny and renamed it The Pride of Lima.

In 1964, the Dorley family formed what is now known as Keystone Brand Meats, and closed the Pride of Lima 15 years later in 1979. “Keystone” was the brand name of meats produced by the original Lima Packing Company from 1898 to 1954. The name was chosen by the third generation family member in the business, Dave Dorley. Today, Keystone is owned and operated by the fourth generation of the Dorley family and the Keystone brand remains as a nod to family roots in the meat business going back to 1898.