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Betty Byrnes
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(765) 864-5328
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(765) 513-0354
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(800) 753-1430
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ERA Dave Trueblood, REALTORS®
405 Southway Blvd. East
Kokomo, IN 46902

 
Contact Info.
Betty Byrnes
Phone
(765) 864-5328
Mobile
(765) 513-0354
Toll Free
(800) 753-1430
Fax
(765) 455-4408

E-Mail Me


ERA Dave Trueblood, REALTORS®
405 Southway Blvd. East
Kokomo, IN 46902

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Area History

Early History

The part of Indiana now known as Howard County was once a part of The Northwest Territory or, as it was later called, The New Purchase.

The Ordinance of 1787 outlined the transition from wilderness to states within the region and eventually Indiana was granted statehood (1816). Beginning in 1795, a series of treaties with various Indian tribes effected Indiana until 1840 when the Miami ceded the last of their Indiana land and agreed to move to land west of the Mississippi River.

In the fall of 1818 at St. Marys, Ohio, several tribes including the Delawares, Wea, Kickapoos, Miamis and Potawatomis, gave up their claim to a very large area of central Indiana. From this area the Miami Indians reserved about 760,000 acres of land south of the Wabash River as their homeland. This land or reservation, known as the Big Miami Reserve, included all the land now known as Howard County.

The White Man Cometh

The first house in Howard County was built by David Landrum, a Quaker from Tennessee, in 1837 in the "Seven Mile Strip" which encompasses Monroe Township in the southwestern part of the county. This area was bought from the Miami Indians by the United States Government and transferred to the Indiana Government. Not far from this site is Miller Cemetery where Landrum's wife is buried. (The cemetery is a short distance from the Sycamore Street Pike in Monroe Township.)

During this period, Miami Chief Jean Baptiste Richardville was a leader of The Big Miami Reserve. When he died in 1841, Francis Lafountaine succeeded him as Head Chief. He was given a section of land at the Rapids of the Wildcat as a reservation. This is the land bought by David Foster on which Kokomo now stands.

Howard County was formed from the Miami Indian Reserve in 1844 as Richardsville County. The county was originally named after the Miami chief, Jean Baptiste Richardville, but the legislature changed the name to Howard County in 1846.

Once the county was formed and the government was organized, lots were sold in the area now known as Kokomo and settlement began in earnest. No one really knows where the name Kokomo comes from, but common belief or legend holds that David Foster named our fair town after an Indian chief. You will want to be sure to read the Legend of Chief Kokomo and learn more about David Foster:

Laying Foundations (1800's)

  • 1845

  • David Foster built a log courthouse

  • 1848

    • Main Street Christian Church in Russiaville organized
    • Settlers held a barbecue for the Indians before they moved West

  • 1849

  • The Pioneer newspaper started in New London. In 1850, it was sold and moved to Kokomo. It was renamed The Howard Tribune and subsequently became The Kokomo Tribune.

  • 1850

    • First census of Howard County - population of 1,857
    • Ishmael Roberts, an Afro-American, registered his "free papers" with the Howard County Recorder

  • 1854


  • 1855

  • Kokomo was incorporated

  • 1856

  • First bridge over Wildcat Creek in Kokomo was built on Union Street

  • 1870

  • Population of Kokomo was 2,177

  • 1872

  • Kokomo High School was organized

  • 1874

  • Contract for the Vermont Covered Bridge (completed in 1876 and moved to Highland Park by The Howard County Historical Society in 1957)

  • 1880

  • Population of Kokomo was 4,042

  • 1885

  • Kokomo Public Library established

  • 1886

    • Crown Point Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument completed
    • Natural gas discovered in Kokomo

  • 1887

    • Diamond Plate Glass Company began
    • Kokomo Water Works began

  • 1889

  • Construction started on the Seiberling Mansion

  • 1890

  • Kokomo Post Office started home delivery

  • 1892

  • Richard Bassett was the first Afro-American to be elected to the State Legislature from Howard County

  • 1893


  • 1894

    • Elwood Haynes made his trial auto run
    • D.C. Spraker invented the first pneumatic rubber tire at the Kokomo Rubber Tire Company

  • 1895

    • William "Billy" Johnson made the first aluminum casting at the Ford and Donnelly Foundry
    • The Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company began

  • 1896

  • Kokomo Telephone and Electric Company began

  • 1898

  • Haynes Apperson Company was incorporated

Continued Growth (1900's)

  • 1901

  • American Federation of Labor was chartered

  • 1902

    • President Theodore Roosevelt visited Kokomo
    • George Kingston developed the first carburetor

  • 1904

  • Kokomo Country Club organized

  • 1905

    • President Theodore Roosevelt visited Kokomo
    • Population of Kokomo was 18,857
    • Carnegie Public Library opened (closed and demolished in 1965 due to safety concerns)

  • 1906

  • Elwood Haynes invented Stellite, "the wonder metal" (a cobalt-base alloy with chromium and other metals; very hard; used to make cutting tools and for surfaces subject to heavy wear)

  • 1908

  • John W. Kern of Alto was nominated for vice president to run with William Jennings Bryan

  • 1911

  • YMCA opened

  • 1912

    • Elwood Haynes invented stainless steel
    • Good Samaritan Hospital was established by the Sisters of St. Joseph

  • 1914

  • First steel produced by Kokomo Steel and Wire Company

  • 1915

  • Stellite Division of Union Carbide Corporation founded by Elwood Haynes

  • 1917

    • A Romance Of Kokomo, silent movie filmed in Kokomo, opened at the Isis Theater
    • Howard County American Red Cross was organized

  • 1918

    • Superior Machine Tool Company made the first American howitzer shell for World War I
    • Liberty Pressed Metal Company made the first aerial bomb with fins

  • 1920

    • John Powell developed the first mechanical corn picker
    • Indiana Bell Telephone Company began
    • Franklin D. Roosevelt visited Kokomo

  • 1922

  • Kokomo YWCA opened

  • 1923

  • Largest assemblage of Ku Klux Klan members in history converged on Kokomo and Melfalfa (sic) Park for a Konklave (size of gathering varied with sources - 10,000 - 100,000 - 200,000)

  • 1925

  • Haynes Automobile Company and the Apperson Brothers Automobile Company closed

  • 1926


  • 1928

  • Kemp Brothers Canning Factory canned the first tomatio juice

  • 1929

    • Kolux Company began operations
    • Kautz Field was dedicated

  • 1931

  • Last known timber wolf in Howard County was killed

  • 1936


  • 1937

  • Chrysler Corporation came to Kokomo

  • 1938

  • Delco produced the first push-button car radio

  • 1939

  • Lowell Thomas did a radio broadcast from the Frances Hotel and lectured at Haworth Gym

  • 1940

  • Carver Center fund raising began

  • 1941

    • Kokomo NAACP regained its charter
    • The Seashore Pool opened (now Kokomo Beach)
    • Globe American Stove Corporation manufactured its first all-metal lifeboat

  • 1942

  • Bunker Hill (now Grissom) was built by the U.S. Navy as a Naval Air Station

  • 1943

  • Globe American Stove Corporation manufactured the life raft nicknamed "Kokomo Kid" for World War II

  • 1944

  • SS Kokomo Victory Cargo Ship was launched

  • 1946

  • Indiana University purchased the Seiberling Mansion

  • 1947

  • Delco manufactured the first signal-seeking car radio

  • 1948

  • President Harry S. Truman campaigned in Kokomo

  • 1949

    • Cuneo Press of Indiana began operations in Kokomo
    • WIOU radio station began broadcasting

  • 1950

    • Lake Central Airlines added Kokomo to their Cincinnati-Chicago route replacing Delta Airlines
    • U.S. 31 Bypass was opened (see proposed replacement bypass)

  • 1957

  • Delco manufactured the first all transistor car radio

  • 1961

  • KHS won the state boys basketball tourney

  • 1964

  • Kokomo Mall opened

  • 1965


  • 1973

  • The Seiberling Museum opened

 
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Betty Byrnes
Phone
(765) 864-5328
Mobile
(765) 513-0354
Toll Free
(800) 753-1430
Fax
(765) 455-4408
ERA Dave Trueblood, REALTORS®
405 Southway Blvd. East
Kokomo, IN 46902
 



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