"THE CITY OF FIRSTS"
He also invented the first stainless steel, and the first Stellite Cobalt-base Alloy, which is used today for blading the small turbines, which power the fuel pumps in liquid-propelled missiles, such as the Atlas rockets.
In 1923 Mr. Haynes ' company was producing 40 cars per day. He passed away in 1925, at the age of 67, and as a tribute to him, all business was suspended for one hour , during his funeral. He was a very successful man with all his achievements, and he was respected and loved by all who knew him. If you visit Kokomo, take time to visit the Elwood Haynes Museum, at 1915 South Webster Street, You will enjoy the many rooms dedicated to this great inventor.
Many other inventions were made first in Kokomo, and are as follows.
In 1894, The First Pneumatic Rubber Tire,invented by D. C. Spraker, at The Kokomo Rubber Tire Co. It was made of strips of three-ply rubber, canvas, and other wrappings of vulcanized rubber, wound around a slender pole.
In 1895, The First Aluminum Casting, made at the Ford and Donnelly Foundry, by William "Billy" Johnson.
In 1902,The First Carburetor,developed by George Kingston. It was made from a piece of brass pipe, six inches long, with a cap fitted to one side, in which a float and wire guage regulated the flow of fuel.
In 1906,The First Stellite Cobalt-base Alloy, discovered by Elwood Haynes, while searching for a metal to be used in producing tableware.
In 1912 ,The First Stainless Steel,invented by Elwood Haynes to develope a tarnish-free dinnerware.
In 1918, The First Howitzer Shell, made by the Superior Machine Tool Co. It was first used in World War I.
In 1918, The First Aerial Bomb with Fins,. produced by the Liberty Pressed Metal Co.
In 1920, The First Mechanical Corn Picker, developed by John Powell.
In 1926, Dirilyte Golden Hued Tableware, invented by Carl Molin.
In 1928, The First Canned Tomato Juice, developed by Walter Kemp of the Kemp Brothers Canning Co. at the request of a physician, who was seeking baby food for use in his clinic.
In 1938, The First Push-button Car Radio,developed at Delco Radio Division of General Motors Corp.
In 1941, All Metal Life Boats and Rafts,Manufactured by Globe American Stove Co. The lifeboat in 1941, and the life raft in 1943, nicknamed the "Kokomo Kid".
In 1947, The First Signal Seeking Car Radio,developed at Delco Radio Division of General Motors.
In 1957, The First All Transistor Car Radio, developed at Delco Radio Division of General Motors.
Kokomo also has several landmarks that are great to see and visit. When you drive to the south end of Kokomo, you will see the Kokomo Gas & Fuel Co. storage tower, that can be seen from several miles away, day or night.
On south Webster Street, you will find the Elwood Haynes Museum. It has many sights to see about the first horseless carriage.
On west Sycamore Street, you will find the Sieberling Mansion, which is now the Howard County Musuem and Historical Society.
On the corner of Walnut and Washington streets,you will find the former city building, which in my own opinion,is one of the best ones that are still standing.
Mr. Foster also gave forty acres to be the site for the county seat. He was a great friend to the Indians, and often invited them in to stay over night. His portrait can be seen on the door of the courthouse. He and his wife had eleven children, one of which was the first white child born here.
Also I have to say that there is a man and his family who do a lot for Kokomo's community, in that they take thier time in the fall, to decorate the "WE CARE PARK" in the north end of Kokomo. This year they had over 750,000 lights strung up, so that those who came to see them, might feel the desire to donate to "WE CARE". This man is named Mike Wyant, who with his brothers and friends, make the Christmas season much more enjoyable.
Kokomo also was the home of Kokomo Steel and Wire, later known as Continental Steel, which produced the first color-coded wire, and was famous for many different steel items such as nails, rebar rods,and chain-link fence.
Kokomo, Indiana can be seen as you come north from Indy on U.S.31, where you well observe the "Gas Tower" on the south part of the city. It can be seen on a clear day from a long distance, Here is what you will see. On Sunday Morning, September 7, 2003, the tower that most of us knew as a big part of the Kokomo Community, became only a memory, as it was imploded with precision explosive action, coming to the ground to be cleaned up and , never to be seen again. What took workers who built that tower, 13 months , to construct, only took a few hours to set off and take away a memory so dear to many who lived here and for many who used it as a travel direction. I really thought that there would be some way to save it as did about half of the people who lived here. But the so- called expense of it being there and maintained, dictated the tearing down of it. When it was standing there for whole city to see, it covered 36,855 square feet of land. It was 378.5 feet tall, and the inside of it could hold 12 million cubic feet of gas. At the top of that tower, was the home of a pair of Peregrine Falcons. From the bottom to the top, there were 550 steps. It was built in 1954, painted in 1955, again in 1972, and painted for the last time in 1985. There were 22 sides to the tower. It took 2,000 gallons of paint to cover it. The Gas Tower was at one time used as a navigational reference point for aircraft when Grissom Air Force base was fully operational. In 1980, vandals took the American Flag from The Kokomo Post Office, and tied it to one of the antennas on top of the tower. The Tower stood tall in the vision of most of Kokomo and Howard County. It is a shame that it had to come down instead of being made an historical site for the future generation to see. Kokomo's skyline has been alteredby the demise of the country's 5th tallest building. It was a part of my life and now only a memory with no marker to show where it stood.
This page created with Netscape Navigator Gold By Ray "UNCLE RAY" Day
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