Your Guide to Buying a Home in Kokomo, IN

Kokomo was named for an Indian Chief of the Miami Tribe who used to live around here.  The area was settled by pioneers in the 1840s along the Wildcat Creek.  The discovery of natural gas helped put the town on the map when its ready supply attracted entrepreneurs and manufacturers.

Known as the 'City of Firsts', Kokomo's Elwood Haynes and the Apperson brothers developed the first commercially produced automobile (Henry Ford's contribution was in the mass scale manufacturing, not the invention.)  Check out the local efforts to build The City of Firsts Automotive Heritage Museum which is housed in the Johanning Civic Center.  The Kokomo/Howard County Visitors Center (open weekdays 9-5, phone 800-837-0971) is also there.  Another notable contribution made by Kokomoans was the development of high performance alloys (now used in aerospace and chemical industries) by the Haynes International Corporation.  For you US WWW surfers, it is also the home of Ponderosa Steak House, and the World's largest steer - Old Ben was a Hereford who weighed over 4700 pounds when he fell and broke his leg.  {he's stuffed in an exhibit at Highland Park}

Kokomo now is the home of one of the largest Chrysler transmissions factories and the world headquarters of the Delco division of Delphi Automotive .  Kokomo is located in north central Indiana [latitude 44 degrees minutes North and longitude 80 degrees minutes West] at the junction of US 31 and Wildcat Creek (a scenic Indiana Waterway).  We stay on Eastern Standard Time all year (most of Indiana does not change to Daylight Saving Times).  This puts us on the same time as New York in the winter and Chicago in the summer.  Visitors may stay at several local motels, most of which are located along US 31 connecting Kokomo to Indianapolis about 50 miles due south and South Bend to the north.  Although it is a divided 4 lane access highway, there are several stoplights in town along US 31.