Kokomo, Indiana. City and Business guide.

Welcome to Kokomo, Indiana.

Kokomo is the county seat of Howard County, Indiana, United States, Indiana's 13th largest city. Kokomo's population was 46,113 at the 2000 census.

Howard County courthouse in Kokomo, Indiana. Photo shot by Derek Jensen (Tysto), 2005-October-28
Kokomo was named after Miami Indian Chief Ma-Ko-Ko-Mo, which is sometimes spelled as Koh-Koh-Mah or Kokomoko. His name translates to Black Walnut. There was a trading post for commerce between Native Americans and European-Americans here in the early 19th century. David Foster founded the first trading post in Howard County. In 1844, Foster donated forty acres of his land to create a county seat in Kokomo, which was a log courthouse, for use in the community. It was incorporated as a city in 1865.

Kokomo serves as the "City of Firsts" in the food industry as well. Kokomo opened the first McDonald's With A Diner Inside, locally called "McDonald's Diner." This McDonald's theme failed nationally, but did well in Kokomo. The store is now an ordinary McDonald's. Kokomo also opened the first Cracker Barrel not built near an interstate highway as well as the first Starbucks Coffee not built in a metropolitan area.

Kokomo Nicknames: "City of Firsts", "Stop Light City" (given by truckers driving through Kokomo on US Highway 31, infamous for its many traffic stops)

The Kokomo Gas Tower had been a symbol of Kokomo since it was constructed in 1954. The tower was 115 m (378 ft) tall and had a capacity of 340,000 m³ (12 million cubic feet). Due to high maintenance costs of $75,000 a year to maintain and up to $1,000,000 to paint, the gas company decided to demolish it in 2003.

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