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The Seiberling Mansion
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Construction on the Seiberling Mansion began in October 1889 and was completed in the fall of 1891. The house was built for Monroe Seiberling of Akron, Ohio at a cost of $50,000.
The architecture of the house is a mixture of Neo-Jacobean (Queen Anne) and Romanesque Revival styles. It was designed by Arthur LaBelle of Marion, Indiana. Built at the height of the gas boom in Indiana, the house was originally heated and illuminated by natural gas.
The mansion includes eight rooms on the first floor, seven on the second, and a grand ballroom on the third floor with an entrance to the rotunda outside. The grand porch overlooks the grounds. Interior woodwork includes ornate design and parquetry of native walnut, oak, maple, cherry, mahogany and tulip poplar. The Victorian staircase is stunning. Moorish themes are featured in brass door knobs, plates, hinges, and sash lifts.
Since 1972, the Seiberling Mansion, because of its historical and architectural significance, has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places by the U.S. Department of Interior.
The Howard County Museum
A residence until 1946 and then the site of Indiana University at Kokomo, this house was acquired by the Howard County Historical Society in 1972 for use as the county historical museum. Formed during the 1916 Indiana Centennial, the Society has previously operated a museum in the former Carnegie Library and the current Howard County Courthouse basement.
A Brief History of Howard County
Howard County was formed in 1844 out of what was called the Great Miami Reserve. This Indian Reserve was ceded to the government by the Miami Indians by the Treaty of 1840. Settlers had already come to the county as early as 1837 when David Landrum erected the first home in the county. The cabin was erected in the extreme western part of the county in the area known as the "Seven-mile Strip."
David Foster donated 40 acres of land on which to found the county seat. Foster was a trader who spent much time on the frontier selling goods and whiskey to the Indians. Foster named the town "Kokomo" after, it was said, an Indian who lived in the area.
Until 1886, Howard County was strictly an agricultural region. In 1886 natural gas was discovered in northcentral Indiana, attracting a large number of manufacturing firms. Very quickly, Kokomo became an industrial center.
With industrialization, Kokomo attracted a number of inventors.
Kokomo Firsts
| First Commercially Built Auto | by Elwood Haynes. Road tested July 4, 1894, on Pumpkinvine Pike east of Kokomo. |
| First Pneumatic Rubber Tire | invented by D.C. Spraker, President of Kokomo Rubber Tire Co. in October 1894. The tire was made of strips of three-ply rubber, canvas and other wrappings of vulcanized rubber wound around a slender pole. |
| First Aluminum Casting | by William "Billy" Johnson at the Ford & Donnelly Foundry in 1895. |
| First Carburetor | developed by George Kingston in 1902. The mixer was made from a piece of brass pipe 6" long with a cap fitted to one side in which a floater and wire gauge regulated the flow of fuel. |
| First Stellite Cobalt-base Alloy | the wonder metal, discovered by Elwood Haynes in 1906 while searching for a metal to be used in producing tableware. |
| First Stainless Steel | Invented by Elwood Haynes in 1912 while attempting to satisfy Mrs. Haynes' demand for tarnish-free dinnerware. |
| First American Howitzer Shell | used in actual warfare. It was made by the Superior Machine Tool Co. in 1918. |
| First Aerial Bomb With Fins | Invented in 1918 by the Liberty Pressed Metal Co. |
| First Mechanical Corn Picker | developed by John Powell in the early 1920's. |
| First Dirilyte Golden-Hued Tableware | invented by Carl Molin in 1926. |
| First Canned Tomato Juice | developed by Walter Kemp, Kemp Brothers Canning Co. in 1928 at the request of a St. Louis physician in his search for baby food to use in his clinic. |
| First Push-Button Car Radio | by Delco Radio Division of G.M. in 1938. |
| First All Metal Life Boats & Rafts | manufactured by Globe American Stove Co.; Lifeboat in December 1941; Life Raft in November 1943, nicknamed "Kokomo Kid." |
| First Signal Seeking Car Radio | by Delco Radio Division of G.M. in 1947. |
| First All Transistor Car Radio | by Delco Radio Division of G.M. in 1957. |
Contact Us:
(765)452-4314
director@howardcountymuseum.org
The Howard County Historical Society believes in the daily relevance of history. As the custodian of Howard County's unique heritage, the society preserves our community's collective experiences. In sharing that history, we foster a sense of community - connecting us to our neighbors, the past to the future, and our home to the world.