Kokomo, one neighborhood at a time

Kokomo doesn't divide itself into officially named villages the way some larger cities do. The clearest lines on the map come from history: three districts on the National Register of Historic Places around downtown, the Downtown Association's Kokomo Cultural District, and the parks and creek that have anchored neighborhoods for more than a century. Here is a walk through seven parts of town, from the courthouse out.

Courthouse Square

The heart of the city is the Kokomo Courthouse Square Historic District, listed on the National Register in 2008 and bounded by Taylor, Market, Superior and Washington streets. Its commercial blocks face the Howard County Courthouse, and the Learner Building on East Sycamore Street has its own National Register listing from 1984.

The square is where Kokomo's independent shops cluster. Palmer's Jewelry has sold rings and repaired watches on East Sycamore Street since 1944. A few doors east, Kokomo Toys & Collectibles fills about 5,000 square feet with action figures old and new on the block it calls Geek Street, beside a painted Geek Alley. Cook McDoogal's Irish Pub has served Irish and American food on the corner of Main Street since 2010. Four painted alleys, including Artist Alley and Courthouse Alley, give the square color between its brick fronts.

The Depot District

A few blocks northwest, the Lake Erie and Western Depot Historic District, listed in 2008, covers the area roughly between Jefferson, Main, Jackson and Washington streets. Its centerpiece is the historic train depot on North Buckeye Street, now part of Depot Park beside the Industrial Heritage Trail. Inside the depot, Marble The Steakhouse serves steaks, seafood and chops at dinner and a Sunday brunch whose menu changes weekly. Nearby, the downtown farmers market sets up at Washington and Mulberry streets on Saturday mornings in season.

Old Silk Stocking

West of downtown, the Old Silk Stocking Historic District covers about 110 acres between Jackson Street, Washington Street, Wildcat Creek and Phillips Street. It grew in the years after the 1886 gas strike, when factory owners and merchants built houses in Queen Anne, Romanesque Revival, Tudor Revival, Colonial Revival and bungalow styles. Sycamore Street runs through the middle of it.

Its anchor is the Seiberling Mansion, finished in 1891 for industrialist Monroe Seiberling and now home to the Howard County Museum, with the Elliott House and the Historical Society's archives on the same grounds. The district was listed on the National Register in 2008; the mansion has been listed on its own since 1971, according to the National Park Service record.

North of the square

Several individually listed landmarks sit north and east of downtown. The former Kokomo High School on East Superior Street, now Central Middle International School, and Memorial Gymnasium across Apperson Way were listed together in 2005. The Howard Masonic Temple on North Washington Street and the George and Helen Tate House on East Jefferson Street were added in 2018. The Douglass School on North Bell Street joined the Register in 2022, and the city's memorial to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. stands at Apperson Way and North Lafountain Street.

Along Wildcat Creek

The creek itself is a neighborhood thread. The Wildcat Creek Walk of Excellence follows it for about four miles, linking Waterworks Park, Crown Point Cemetery, Foster Park, the municipal stadium, Miller-Highland Park and Mehlig Park. Foster Park, on West Superior Street at the edge of downtown, holds the Kokomo Arts Pavilion, a skatepark and a playground, and summer concerts and movie nights. Just south, the stadium on South Union Street became home to the Kokomo Creek Chubs in 2026 and hosts The Frozen Sandlot skating rink in winter.

Highland Park and the south side

South of the creek, the neighborhoods around Defenbaugh and Webster streets grew up around Highland Park, the city's 83-acre park with Old Ben, the Sycamore Stump and the Vermont Covered Bridge. At its southeast corner, the Elwood Haynes Museum occupies the inventor's former home on South Webster Street, listed on the National Register in 1984. Neighboring Kokomo Country Club's golf course earned its own listing in 2006, and Kokomo Beach, the city's family aquatic center, is close by on West Park Avenue.

The South Lafountain corridor

Farther south and east, newer subdivisions and shopping streets spread toward the US 31 bypass. On South Lafountain Street, Half Moon Restaurant & Brewery brews seven beers on site and serves slow-smoked barbecue, burgers and steaks, with a private dining room for groups.

Finding out more

The city's Plan Commission handles planning and zoning, and its pages are the place to look for development plans in a given part of town. The city's parks pages describe every park and trail by neighborhood, and the Greater Kokomo Downtown Association publishes the Cultural District map. For house histories, the Howard County Historical Society's archives behind the Elliott House are open by appointment, and the Kokomo-Howard County Public Library's family and local history department can help trace a street or a family.

Spend a day crossing these lines, from the square to the depot to Highland Park, and Kokomo's history starts to read like a map.