Discover 9 hidden attractions, cool sights, and unusual things to do in Kokomo (United States). Don't miss out on these must-see attractions: Seiberling Mansion, Elwood Haynes Museum, and Kokomo City Building. Also, be sure to include Automotive Heritage Museum in your itinerary.
Below, you can find the list of the most amazing places you should visit in Kokomo (Indiana).
Table of Contents
Seiberling Mansion
Museum in Kokomo, Indiana. The Seiberling Mansion is a historic house located at Kokomo, Indiana, United States. In 1887, Monroe Seiberling of Akron, Ohio, traveled to Kokomo to open the Kokomo Strawboard Company, which would make shoeboxes out of straw and employ seventy-five people. Within six months, Seiberling, uncle of Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company founder Frank Seiberling, sold the Kokomo Strawboard Company and opened the Diamond Plate Glass Company. He began construction on his mansion in October 1889 at a cost of $50,000, with construction ending within two years. The mansion is built in a mixture of Neo-Jacobean and Romanesque Revival styles.
In 1972, the Seiberling Mansion was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is located in the Old Silk Stocking Historic District.
The mansion is owned by the Howard County Historical Society and serves as the main museum of the Howard County Historical Museum.[1]
Address: 1200 W Sycamore St, 46901 Kokomo
Elwood Haynes Museum
Museum in Kokomo, Indiana. The Elwood Haynes Museum is a museum in the former mansion owned by Elwood Haynes located in Kokomo, Indiana. Haynes was an inventor who is credited with being the first to produce cars commercially in 1894. He also invented stainless steel and stellite. He became a millionaire in 1916 and had the mansion located on south Webster Street built, where he lived until his death in 1925.
In 1957, the mansion was sold by Elwood's son, March Haynes, to Martin J. Caserio, General Manager of Delco Radio Division of General Motors, who lived in it with his family. When Caserio was transferred to Detroit in 1964, GM purchased the house in the Executive Relocation Program and it stood vacant until 1965 when it was purchased by Elwood Haynes' daughter, Bernice Haynes Hillis, who donated it to the city of Kokomo for the purpose it currently serves today. Since 1967 it has been open to the public and the museum curators have collected many of Haynes' original inventions to display in the building. Also housed in the museum are over 15,000 documents and photographs from Haynes' personal and business correspondence dating from 1877. The museum features exhibits on the life of Haynes and is open the public who can tour the building. His private laboratory is located across the street but is currently a private residence and cannot be toured.
It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.[2]
Address: 1915 S Webster St, 46902-2040 Kokomo
Kokomo City Building
Kokomo City Building is a historic municipal building located at Kokomo, Indiana. It was designed by the architecture firm of Wing & Mahurin and built about 1893. It is a two-story, Richardsonian Romanesque style brick and limestone building on a raised basement. It features rounded corner towers topped by conical roofs and a central stone arch entrance. In the rear of the building is the former fire station used until 1979.
It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1981.[3]
Address: Superior Street & Washington Street, Kokomo
Automotive Heritage Museum
History museum, Museum
Address: 1500 N Reed Rd, 46901-2592 Kokomo
Learner Building
Learner Building is a historic commercial building located in Kokomo, Indiana. It was built by John Wesley Learner around 1904, and is a two-story, red brick building with a sloping flat roof. Learner was a prominent businessman in Kokomo, though he himself never had a business in the building. The Learner Building is 11 bays wide and has three commercial storefronts. It is a good example of late-19th century commercial architecture and features bold vertical brick patterns and limestone coursing.
It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.[4]
Lake Erie and Western Depot Historic District
Historical landmark in Kokomo, Indiana. Lake Erie and Western Depot Historic District is a national historic district located at Kokomo, Indiana. The district includes seven contributing buildings and three contributing structures associated with the Lake Erie and Western Railroad train station at Kokomo. It includes the American Craftsman style passenger and freight depot, a three-story Romanesque Revival style brick building with a limestone facade, a three-story Romanesque influenced brick building, the massive three-story Neoclassical style S. Tudor & Co. building, "The Conwell", and three sets of railroad tracks.
It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2008.[5]
Kokomo Courthouse Square Historic District
Building in Kokomo, Indiana. Kokomo Courthouse Square Historic District is a national historic district located at Kokomo, Howard County, Indiana. The district includes 60 contributing buildings, 1 contributing structure, and 1 contributing object in the central business district of Kokomo. It developed between about 1870 and 1937 and includes notable examples of Italianate, Queen Anne, and Romanesque Revival style architecture. Notable buildings include the Draper Block, Wilson Block, College Building, Howard County Courthouse, and a Railroad Watchman Tower.
It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2008.[6]
Kokomo High School and Memorial Gymnasium
Gymnasium school in Kokomo, Indiana. The Kokomo High School and Memorial Gymnasium is a historic high school and gymnasium located at Kokomo, Indiana, United States. It is a work of architect Elmer Dunlap and others, in Late Gothic Revival and Streamline Moderne architectural styles. It has also been known as the Central Middle School and Memorial Gymnasium. The NRHP listing included three contributing buildings on 8 acres.
It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.[7]
Old Silk Stocking Neighborhood
The Old Silk Stocking Neighborhood is the historic district near downtown Kokomo, Indiana, and the Westside Business District. In 1886, natural gas was discovered in north central Indiana. The area exploded with people, who then developed the neighborhood. This historic area of town was the place where lawyers, doctors, industrialists and even a mayor would come to build their turn of the century residences.
The neighborhood is bounded by Washington Street to the east, Philips Street to the west, Wildcat Creek to the south and Taylor Street to the North. Major roadways traversing through the Old Silk Stocking Neighborhood include Sycamore Street (Indiana State Road 22) running east and west and Washington Street and Philips Street traveling north and south. Recently in 2005, Sycamore Street (SR 22) began a complete redesign resulting in an addition of a center turn lane, as well as old-fashioned lighting and ornamental trees with construction ending in late 2006.
On December 22, 2008, the neighborhood was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. Its official boundaries are "W. Jackson St. on the N. Washington St. on the E. Wildcat Creek in the S. Phillips St. on the W.".[8]