A Brief History of Howard County

Howard County was formed in 1844 out of what was called the Great Miami Reserve.  The Miami Indians, in the Treaty of 1840, ceded this Indian reservation to the government.  Settlers had already come to the county as early as 1837 when David Landrum erected the first home in the county in the extreme western area known as the “seven-mile strip”.

 In 1844, David Foster donated 40 acres of land on which to found the new county seat.  Foster was a trader who spent much time on the frontier selling goods and whiskey to the Indians. According to one story, Foster said he named the town “Kokomo” after the orneriest, old Indian he ever knew.

 Until 1886, Howard County was strictly an agricultural region.  In 1886 natural gas was discovered in north central Indiana, attracting a large number of manufacturing firms.  Very quickly, Kokomo became an industrial center.