Time Line of Howard County, 1844-

Ed Riley - 1844-1983
These time line events were researched by County Historian and teacher, Ed Riley, Jr. and students as a project of all Howard County Students, grades 4 - 8. It is used with permission of Mr. Riley.

Cheryl Genovese - 1979 -
As a volunteer in the Genealogy & Local history Services department, Cheryl has continued to compile the timeline events to provide an overall view of the history of Kokomo and Howard County.

1844-1863
Jan 15, 1844	Richardville County was organized
May 1844	County government was organized
June 1844	County was divided into three townships. (Monroe, Kokomo, & Green)
Oct 18, 1844	First sale of lots took place in Kokomo
1845	Hopewell Methodist Episcopal Church was organized
1845	Russiaville was laid out
1845	David Foster built the log courthouse
1846	Poplar Grove was laid out by Robert Coate
1846	County was divided into nine townships. (Center, Ervin, Monroe, Clay, Harrison, Taylor, Howard, Jackson, & Green)
Aug 3, 1846	Preemption law was passed by Congress, and the county land was surveyed
Dec 28, 1846	County's name was changed from Richardville to Howard
1847	Chief Francis LaFountaine died
1848	The Keats sawmill and Stonebraker Mill began operations
Apr 14, 1848	Greentown was laid out by Jesse Osborn, Tarver Segrave, and Charles O. Fry
May 1, 1848	Alto was platted
June 28, 1848	Main Street Christian Church in Russiaville organized
July 4, 1848	Settlers held a barbecue for the Indians before they moved West
July 12, 1849	The Pioneer newspaper began in New London by Dr. Moses R. Wickersham
Dec 20, 1849	John W. Kern was born in Alto. (U.S. Senator and VP Candidate for William Jenning Bryan)
1850	First census of Howard Co. showed a population of 1,857
1850	James Beard bought The Pioneer, moved it to Kokomo and renamed it The Howard Tribune
1850	Ishmael Roberts, an Afro-American, registered his "free papers" with the Howard Co. Recorder
May 29, 1850	Howard Masonic Lodge #93 was chartered
1851	Two one-story brick courthouse buildings were constructed on the square
Feb 21, 1851	Kokomo's Main St. Christian Church was organized
1853	Green and Jackson Townships were divided into three townships. (Union, Liberty, and Jackson)
June 23, 1853	West Liberty was platted
1854	Indian Reserve Bank was organized. (First bank in Howard County)
1854	The first railroad came to Kokomo
Oct 1, 1855	Kokomo was incorporated
1856	Earliest mention of an Afro-American living in New London. Thomas Roberts, a free man, helped on the Underground Railroad.
1856	The first bridge over Wildcat Creek was built in Kokomo on Union St.
March, 1858	Honey Creek Twp. was annexed to Howard County from Clinton County.
May 21, 1859	Judson Baptist Church was organized.
June 3, 1860	Thomas Hendricks and Henry S. Lane debated in Kokomo.
Apr 22, 1861	The Howard Rifles, the first unit from Howard County, left for the Civil War.
1864 -1883
1867	Kokomo-New London gravel toll road was begun
1868	Construction on the brick Victorian courthouse began
1868	Crown Point Cemetery began
1869	Wayman African Methodist Episcopal Church was organized
Oct 19, 1869	10 inch snowfall
Oct 23, 1869	Howard County Agricultrual Society was organized
1870	The 1868 brick courthouse was completed
1870	Kokomo-New London gravel toll road was completed at a cost of $27,000
1870	Kokomo's population was 2,177
1871	The west side of the square burned
1872	Kokomo High School was organized with Sheridan Cox as superintendent
1873	West Middleton was laid out by William Middleton
July 25, 1873	Howard County Grange was organized
Oct 5, 1874	Contract let for the Vermont Covered Bridge
1875	Howard County began keeping birth and death records
Feb 18, 1875	KHS held its first commencement
1876	County commissioners accepted the completed Vermont Covered Bridge
1877	Jerome was incorporated
Nov 27, 1877	David Foster died
Feb 14, 1878	James Whitcomb Riley appeared at the Kokomo Opera House
1880	Kokomo's population was 4,042
Jan 20, 1881	Russiaville fire
May 30, 1881	Kokomo held its first Memorial Day
Nov 24, 1882	Macedonia Christian Church was organized
1883	Richard Brown was the first Afro-American graduate of KHS
1884-1903
Dec 25, 1885	The Kokomo Public Library was established in the Normal Building with Joshua Clinton Leach as librarian
Jan 7, 1886	The first library books were loaned
Aug 31, 1886	The Crown Point Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument was completed
Oct 6, 1886	Natural gas was discovered in Kokomo
1887	Kokomo Strawboard Company began
1887	Diamond Plate Glass Company began
Apr 30, 1887	Professor L. A. Tolbert ascended 1500 feet over Kokomo with his gas-filled balloon
Aug 14, 1887	Old Bob, 35-year old Civil War horse died
Nov 1 1877	Kokomo Water Works began
Sept 22, 1887	Natural gas was discovered at Greentown
1888	Kokomo Opalescent Glass Company began
1888	Rockford Bit Company began
1889	Construction began on the Seiberling Mansion
1889	Diamond Plate Glass fire
July 1, 1890	Kokomo Post Office began home delivery
1891	Kokomo's Elks Lodge was organized
July 15, 1891	Kokomo's Driving Park opened (horse racing track)
1892	Richard Bassett was the first Afro-American to be elected to the State Legislature from Howard County
1893	Construction began on Kokomo's City Hall
1893	Kokomo's population was 15,000
1893	Columbian School was built
Apr 27, 1893	The Liberty Bell stopped in Kokomo on its way to the Chicago Worlds Fair
1894	The Greentown glass factory began operations
Jan 12, 1894	The Kokomo Public Library opened in the City Hall
July 4, 1894	Elwood Haynes made his trial auto run
Oct 1894	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
1895	The Pittsbugh Plate Glass Company began
1896	The Kokomo Telephone and Electric Company began
1896	The Kokomo Fence Machine Company began
Aug 15, 1896	The Kokomo Public Library opened in the stone building on Mulberry Street
1897	Great Western Pottery fire
1898	Kokomo High School burned
May 24, 1898	The Haynes Apperson Company was incorporated
Jan 12, 1901	The Kokomo Public Library opened in the Blacklidge Building
Oct 12, 1901	The American Federation of Labor was chartered
1902	President Theodore Roosevelt visited Kokomo
1902	George Kingston developed the first carburetor
Apr 6, 1902	The Knights of Columbus was organized
Sept 23, 1902	President Theodore Roosevelt spent 23 minutes campaigning in Kokomo
June 13, 1903	The Greentown glass factory was destroyed by fire
1904-1923
June 13, 1904	Kokomo Country Club organized
1905	Franklin D. Miller purchased the Seiberling Mansion
1905	Kokomo's population was 18,857
Jan 30, 1905	Carnegie Public Library opened
June 11, 1905	The Kokomo Glass and Manufacturing Company was destroyed by fire.
1906	Elwood Haynes invented Stellite, the wonder metal
May 19, 1908	State GAR encampment was held at Kokomo
July 10, 1908	John W. Kern of Alto was nominated for VP to run with William Jennings Bryan
Dec 2, 1909	Kokomo's Moose Lodge was organized
Dec 13, 1909	Kokomo Motor Cycle Company was incorporated
1911	The YMCA opened
1912	Good Samaritan Hospital was established by the Sisters of St. Joseph
Feb 22, 1912	Five to six foot snow drifts
Mar 22, 1913	The great Kokomo flood began
Feb 1914	First steel was produced by Kokomo Steel and Wire Company
March 24, 1914	The 1898 Kokomo High School burned
Nov 4, 1914	George Kingston purchased the Seiberling Mansion
1915	Stellite Division of Union Carbide Corporation was founded by Elwood Haynes
1916	Howard Township's schools were consolidated
June 18, 1916	The sycamore stump was moved to Highland Park
Sept 12, 1916	The cornerstone was laid for Union Township School
Feb 12, 1917	"A ROMANCE OF KOKOMO", silent movie filmed in Kokomo, opened at the Isis Theater
Mar 12, 1917	Ice storm
May 25, 1917	Howard County American Red Cross was organized
1918	The Superior Machine Tool Company made the first American howitzer shell for World War I
1918	The Libery Pressed Metal Company made the first aerial bomb with fins
1920	John Powell developed the first mechanical corn picker
1920	Indiana Bell Telephone Company began
July 11, 1920	Hailstorm
Sept 20, 1920	Douglass School opened
Oct 15, 1920	Franklin D. Roosevelt visited Kokomo
Aug 7, 1922	The Kokomo YWCA opened
1923	Armstrong-Landon fire
July 4, 1923	The greatest assemblage of Ku Klux Klan members in history converged on Kokomo and Melfalfa Park for a mighty Konklave.
Nov 24, 1923	A museum opened in the basement of the Carnegie Library
1924-1943
Oct 21, 1924	A marker was dedicated on the site of the first cabin in Howard County
1925	The Haynes Automobile Company and the Apperson Brothers Automobile Company closed
April 13, 1925	Elwood Haynes died
Oct 30, 1925	75th anniversary edition of the Kokomo Tribune
1926	Carl Molin invented dirilyte golden-hued tableware
1927	Kokomo Steel and Wire Company ws absorbed by Continental Steel Corporation
1927	Howard County's 1868 brick courthouse torn down
1928	Kemp Brothers Canning Factory canned the first tomatio juice
Aug 1929	Kolux Company began operations
Aug 1929	Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company closed
Sept 29, 1929	Kautz Field was dedicated
1930	Union Bank began
Mar 1931	The last known timber wolf in Howard County was killed
1936	Construction began on the present Howard County Courthouse
1936	Delco Electronics came to Kokomo
1937	Chrysler Corporation came to Kokomo
Mar 19, 1937	Russiaville fire
Oct 20, 1937	Present Howard County Courthouse was dedicated
1938	Delco produced its first push-button car radio
Sept 9, 1938	The last interurban departed from Kokomo
1939	Lowell Thomas did a radio broadcast from the Frances Hotel and lectured at Haworth Gym
1940	Carver Center began
1941	Kokomo's NAACP regained its charter
June 8, 1941	The seashore Pool opened
Dec 1941	Globe American Corporation manugactured its first all-metal lifeboat
1942	Bunker Hill (now Grissom) was built by the U.S. Navy
Feb 1942	The Carnegie Library shipped 1,000 donated books to an army air base in Illinois as a part of the National Victory Book Campaign
Nov 1943	Globe American Corporation manufactured the life raft nicknamed "Kokomo Kid" for World War II
1944-1963
Mar 1944	KHS boys basketball team was runner-up at the state tourney
Mar 22, 1944	KHS Haworth Gym burned
July 4, 1944	Kokomo celebrated its centennial
Dec 18, 1944	SS Kokomo Victory Cargo Ship was launched
1946	First National Bank began
Aug 12, 1946	Indiana University purchased the Seiberling Mansion
1947	Delco manufactured the first signal-seeking car radio
June 15, 1948	Carver Center was dedicated
Oct 15, 1948	President Harry S. Truman campaigned in Kokomo
1949	Cuneo Press of Indiana began operations in Kokomo
1949	American Legion Post 6 won the national American Legion color guard competition
July 16, 1949	WIOU radio station began broadcasting
1950	Memorial Gym was completed
Jan 1950	Kokomo flood
May 8, 1950	St. Joan of Arc Roman Catholic Church was dedicated
May 8, 1950	99 day Chrysler strike ended
May 22, 1950	YWCA broke ground for a new addition
May 24, 1950	Howard Masonic Lodge #93 celebrated its centennial
Oct 1, 1950	Lake Central Airlines added Kokomo to their Cincinnati-Chicago route replacing Delta Airlines
Oct 30, 1950	The Kokomo Tribune published its centennial edition
Nov 2, 1950	U.S. 31 Bypass was opened
Nov 25, 1950	4 ft. snow drifts and 60 MPH winds
Dec 14, 1950	KHS vocational building was dedicated
Aug 1954	Kokomo and Center Twp. schools were consolidated
Dec 30, 1954	The county commissioners burned the last note on the present courthouse
1957	The Howard Co. Historical Society moved the Vermont Bridge to Highland Park
1957	Delco manufactured the first all transistor car radio
1961	KHS won the state boys basketball tourney
1964-1987
1964	Kokomo Mall opened
July 22, 1964	Kokomo Morning Times began publishing
1965	Indiana University Kokomo campus completed
1965	Chrysler transmission plant opened
April 11, 1965	Palm Sunday tornado!
Sept 30, 1965	Carnegie Public Library was closed because it was unsafe
Nov 1965	Carnegie Public Library demolished
Dec 15, 1966	Present Kokomo Public Library was occupied
Jan 23, 1967	Present Kokomo Public Library opened
1968	Haworth High School was completed
Apr 17, 1968	Robert F. Kennedy and wife Ethel campaigned in Kokomo
May 3, 1968	Senator Eugene McCarthy campaigned in Kokomo
1970	Delco completed a new plant on the 31-Bypass
1970	Indiana University Kokomo held its first commencement
Dec 16, 1970	Main Street Christian Church burned
1971	The Hotel Frances burned
1972	The Howard Co. Historical Society got possession of the Seiberling Museum
Aug 12, 1973	The Seiberling Museum opened
Dec 31, 1973	10 inches of snow
April 1975	Kokomo Reservoir Park being developed
1977	Union Bank Building was torn down
Jan 27, 1978	17 inches of snow with 30-65 MPH winds
1978	Kokomo Reservoir Park dedicated
1978	New Union Bank Building opened (now Society Bank)
1978	New Post Office opened
Nov 12, 1979	Delco announces they are to build a plant in Mexico to open in Summer of 1980
May 25, 1980	Janet Shirer, Bon Air teacher, is stabbed to death—a Kokomo unsolved Crime
Sep 8, 1980	Presidential candidate Ronald Reagan appears in parking lot of Kokomo Mall on campaign stop
Jan 1, 1981	Kokomo Public Library becomes Kokomo-Howard County Public Library
Dec 29, 1982	Country Western singer Sylvia, a Northwestern High School graduate, attains a gold record of her hit single “Nobody”
1983	New City Hall opened
Dec 29, 1982	Country Western singer Sylvia, a Northwestern High School graduate, attains a gold record of her hit single “Nobody”
Feb 6, 1984	Kokomo-Center School Corporation board approves plans to revamp School usage to K-4, 5-7, 8-9 at the KHS building, and 10-12 at Haworth Building
May 25, 1984	Haworth High School graduates its final class
Aug 8, 1984	Kokomo native Judi Brown wins Olympic silver medal in women’s 400 meter hurdles
May 5, 1985	Civic Center Tower for senior citizens is dedicated
Jul 30, 1985	Western School Corporation bars Ryan White from attending classes
Feb 17, 1986	Continental Steel closes—leading to unemployment and pension default
Jun 13, 1986	Matterhorn Productions Group of Los Angeles comes to Kokomo to begin Work on “Terror Squad” starring Chuck Connors, filmed at the old Kokomo High School building and areas around Kokomo
Apr 14, 1987	A bomb explodes in the sheriff’s office at the Howard County Courthouse, Killing the bomber and injuring 4 others