Haynes history in Kokomo

Three things link Jay County to Kokomo: The gas boom, glass, and Elwood Haynes.
An hour and a half trip west provides an opportunity to explore all three.
On top of that, there’s an opportunity to see the biggest stuffed steer on earth and the world’s largest sycamore tree stump.
Okay, those last two might not be much of a draw; but they are in Kokomo, so you may as well give them a look.
First stop for any Jay County visitor should be the Elwood Haynes Museum, which is open Tuesdays through Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sundays from 1 to 4 p.m.
The museum is located in the mansion Elwood and Bertha Lanterman Haynes built in 1915 when the Haynes Automobile Company was in its hey-day. Haynes, who was born in Portland in 1857, developed the first commercially successful automobile in 1894, giving it a test run on Kokomo’s Pumpkinville Pike.
The museum traces his life from his childhood in Portland, through his years of study at what is now Worcester Polytechnic Institute and at Johns Hopkins University, to his role as a teacher and principal at Portland High School, then — following the discovery of natural gas here — his gas boom career that took him first to Greentown then to Kokomo, and his rise as an inventor, industrialist, and metallurgist.
He died in April 1925, about a year after the Haynes Automobile Company went bankrupt during a major shake-up of the auto industry in the face of more efficient mass production.
When the mansion was built, it was surrounded by countryside.
Today it’s in the middle of a residential neighborhood near Kokomo’s Highland Park. It’s located at 1915 S. Webster St. Off-street parking adjacent to the museum is limited. Admission is free.
Among the museum’s featured attractions is a 1905 Model L Haynes, which originally sold for $1,350. It had a two-cylinder engine and a three-speed transmission controlled by a single lever.
Three other Haynes models, dating from the 1920s, are on display in a garage behind the mansion.
You’ll also find a bust of Elwood Haynes that’s a twin of the one in the Indiana Room of Jay County Public Library.
In keeping with the gas boom theme, Kokomo also offers an opportunity to tour the oldest art glass firm in America.
Kokomo Opalescent Glass Co., located at 1310 S. Market St., offers public tours Tuesdays through Fridays at 10 a.m. Tours are $5 per person, and sandals and open-toe shoes are prohibited. Glass blowers and other glass artists demonstrate their work.
The company was founded Opalescent Glass Works in 1888 at the height of the gas boom. It produced art glass for customers such as Tiffany and LaFarge and was honored at the 1898 World’s Fair in Paris.
Right next door there’s an art glass retail shop affiliated with the company. It’s called The Op Shop and is open 9 to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
If the old Haynes models at the Elwood Haynes Museum didn’t satisfy your interest in old cars, you can also check out the Kokomo Automotive Museum on 1500 N. Reed Road on the northeast side of town. Admission is $5 for adults and $4 for seniors and students.
More than 100 classic cars are on display Tuesdays through Sundays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
And that giant stump and giant stuffed steer?
They’re located in buildings at Highland Park near the Haynes Museum on the southeast side of town.
The sycamore stump is enormous, measuring 12 feet tall and 57 feet in circumference. It’s been on display since 1916.
Since 1919, it’s been accompanied by Old Ben, the world’s largest preserved steer, in an adjoining wood and stone shelter.
Old Ben was born in 1902 and weighed 135 pounds at birth. At full size, he weighed more than 4,700 pounds and measured 16 feet from his nose to the end of his tail.
And that’s no bum steer.
For more information, visit www.visitkokomo.org.

[[In-content Ad]]