The Kokomo Tribune from Kokomo, Indiana • Page 58

2 SUNDAY, MARCH 28,1999 MILLENNIUM 11900-1919 KOKOMO TRIBUNE A look back as we move forward Howard County is rich in stories, history and tradition. By TODD D. BURLAGE Tribune staff writer As we prepare for the historic move into a new millennium, it is important to not only focus on where we are heading, but to also not lose sight of where we came from. Kokomo and Howard County are rich in history and tradition, and so the Tribune decided it was worthwhile to visit some of the communities that molded and continue to shape Howard County Howard County was originally named Richardville County in 1844; it was named after jean Baptiste de Richardville, a Miami Indian chief. But because of the name's difficulty to pronounce and write, it was changed two years later to Howard County, after Tilghman Ashurst Howard, a lawyer and politician who served this area as a U.S.

Representative before his death in 1844. He reportedly never set foot in the county named in his honor. Because of their swampy and forested landscapes, Howard County joined Tipton County as the last two of Indiana's 92 counties to be created. Founded by David Foster in 1842 on 40 acres of land located at the rapids of the Wildcat, Kokomo gets its name from a Miami Indian Foster once knew. Foster's original cabin sat on what is now the intersection of Superior and Main streets.

The land was originally granted, by the government, to Chief Lalontaine in reward for his many acts of kindness to settlers. Plans for Alto (250 South-200 West) were great when it was laid out in the late 1840s. The town was originally called Olinda, but had its name changed in celebration of America's victory at Palo Alto in the Mexican-American War. At one time, Alto had a ut'ifs close to the "devastating nado of 1965 kept it from flourishing. Originally called Pleasant Spring, Cassville (00 550 North) got its name in 1854 as a tribute to War of 1812 veteran General Lewis Cass.

The community became important to farmers in the area after the Peru and Indianapolis Railroad extended its tracks to Cassville. Center (300 South-350 East) was platted in 1852 and was originally named Tampico after a Mexican port on the Gulf of Mexico. The influence of the Mexican- American War of the 1840s was Kokomo Municipal Airport felt in cities and towns throughout the Midwest. After it was discovered that a town named Tampico already existed in Jackson County, the name was changed to Centre (later Center) because of its central location in Howard County. There is some uncertainty on how Greentown (00 North South- 850 East) got its name; however, there are a couple of theories.

One is that it is was the site of an Indian town named after an Indian chief called Green; there is little evidence to substantiate that theory. The other theory is that the town got its name from the contrast between the green growth and the dark forests in the area. The discovery of natural gas in the Miami Valley brought an industrial revolution to Greentown, which included the opening of the highly successful Indiana Tumbler and Goblet Company in 1894. Little is known about how the community of Hemlock (400 South-450 East) got its name. WhaT is known is that'uVwas plat 1 in 1852 Originality Terre before 1881, it was renamed Hemlock and flourished as a trading center since it was along the Conrail Railroad line.

Jerome (150 South-1050 East) got its name in 1847 after the son of its first settler Hampton Brown. Brown's son eventually became a Howard County Commissioner. Because of its four-mile proximity to Greentown, the two cities competed for post offices and railroads throughout the late 1800s. Greentown eventually defeated Jerome in the railroad quest and kept Jerome from ever becoming a thriving eastern Howard Coun- ty community. Like Center, the town of Oakford (400 South-125 East) carried two names for some time.

Oakford was originally named Fairfield in 1852 and was a successful trading center as part of the Norfolk and Western Railroad route. When residents of Fairfield applied for a post office in 1854, the name Fairfield was rejected and Oakford was submitted and accepted. Phlox (400 South-1100 East) was established in 1853 and was likely named after the flowers which were prevalent in the area. Not much more is known. Like many communities in the area, Plevna (400 North-800 East) got its name from the heavy war influence of the era.

It is named after a city in Bulgaria which was well publicized at the time because of its war with 'Plevna' never 4 very 'containing 1 more thanks residents at one time, but businesses' such as a cider mill, blacksmith shop, hatchery and even a saloon thrived until devastating fires and changing economics sparked Plevna's decline, around the turn of the century. Poplar Grove (1050 West-550 North) got its name from the large numbers of poplar trees that once grew there. A post office was established in Poplar Grove in 1855, but the exact date of its founding is uncertain. The area is believed to have been an important hub on the Underground Railroad, which helped runaway slaves make their way safely north. Russiaville (400 South-750 West) gets its name from a loose pronunciation of Jean Baptiste de Richardville, the Indian chief for which Howard County was originally named.

It was originally located in Clinton County in the 1850s but residents lived closer to Kokomo than Frankfort, the county seat of Clinton County, and legislation was eventually passed allowing Russiaville to detach itself from Clinton County. The arrival of the railroad made Russiaville an important trade center. The tornado of 1965 destroyed the town's buildings, but not its spirit; Russiaville rebuilt and now is home to about 1,000 people. Vermont (500 East-150 North) likely got its name in 1849 after its founder's, Milton Hadley, home state. Because of its central location to Greentown, Kokomo and Peru, the town seemed destined for greatness; however after losing) out to of county seat 'and Then' see- railroad b.ypass in favor of Greentown, it served little use and eventually disappeared.

Soon after the town of Jerome was founded in 1847, West Liberty (1250 East-350 South) was developed just three miles to the east on land where a blacksmith shop operated in 1848. West Liberty served as an important trade center in the 1880s, but its inability to attract a railroad spelled the end to continued prosperity for both Jerome and West Liberty. One of the more recently founded communities in Howard County is West Middleton 250 This building is a familiar site in West Middleton, one of the many small towns surrounding Kokomo. (KT photo by i Michael Mickey) South-475 West). It was founded in about 1873 when the Frankfort and Kokomo Railroad was constructed.

Laid out by William Middleton, the community was originally known as Middleton Station. The largest company in West Middleton was a flouring mill which burned down' 1 in 1960. Many thanks to Ned Boeder's. "Howard County A Pictorial, History" for the information. How the Associated Press reported some of the century's top stories Atomic bomb dropped AUG.

6,1945 (AP) An atomic bomb, hailed as the most destructive force in history and as the greatest achievement of organized science, has been loosed upon Japan. President Truman disclosed in a. White House statement at 11 a.m., Eastern War Time, today that the first use of the bomb containing more power than 20,000 tons of TNT and producing more than 2,000 times the blast of the most powerful bomb ever dropped before was made 16 hours earlier on Hiroshima, a Japanese army The atomic bomb is the answer, President Truman said, to Japan's refusal to surrender. Secretary of War Stimson predicted the bomb will prove a tremendous aid to shortening the Japanese war, Mr. Truman grimly warned that "even more powerful forms (of the bomb) are in development "If they do not now accept our terms, they may expect a rain of ruin from the air, the like of which has never been seen on this earth," he said.

Man walks on the moon SPACE CENTER, HOUSTON, JULY 20, 1969 (AP) Man came to the moon and walked its dead surface Sunday. Japan attacks Pearl Harbor WASHINGTON, DEC. 7, 1941 (AP) Japan declared war on the United States today. In an attack without parallel in the Far East, Nipponese planes appeared without warning over Hawaii just after dawn on an otherwise quiet Sunday morning and bombed U.S. air and naval forces at Pearl Harbor.

Deadly explosives were also dropped on famed, romantic Honolulu, Hickam Field nearby, and at other strategic U.S. strongholds in the Pacific. Kennedy is assassinated DALLAS, NOV. 22,1963 (AP) President Kennedy was shot today just as his motorcade left downtown Dallas. Mrs.

Kennedy jumped up and grabbed Mr. Kennedy. She cried, "Oh, No!" The motorcade sped on. AP Photographer James W. Altgens said he saw blood on the president's head.

Altgens said he heard two shots but thought someone was shooting fireworks until he saw the blood on the President Holocaust exposed LONDON, JAN. 28,1945 (AP) Oswiecim, site of a notorious German concentration camp 30 miles south of Krakow, has been captured by the Red Army. Underground reports reaching Moscow last October said that soon after the collapse of the ill- fated Warsaw uprising last fall, 12,400 persons mostly women and children evacuated from the Polish capital were put to death at the camp in one day. The Moscow accounts said gaunt mothers with sick children in their arms and enfeebled middle-aged persons were herded into airtight rooms and, while jj guards watched through dows, they were killed by gas. WWI ignited by assassin SARAJEVO, BOSNIA, JUNE 28 1914 (AP) Archduke Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-ij Hungarian throne, and ther Princess of Hohenberg were shot dead today by a student in the main street of the Bosnian! capital, a short time after theyf escaped from a bomb hurled atij the royal automobile.

They were passing through the city on their annual visit to the provinces Bosnia and Herzegovina. ENJOY THE ENERGY EFFICIENT WARMTH OF THE SINGLE BEST SYSTEM. NATURAL GAS Heat. KOKOMO GAS FUEL Co, 900 E. Boulevard Kokomo 17651 459-41 Ol NORTH WOODS COMMONS Established Since 1997.

GRAND OPENING Expansion of Patio Homes, One Bedroom Apartments, and our Club Room Sunday, March 28th, 1999 1:00 P.M. to 4:00 P.M. 2501 Friendship Blvd. Kokomo, IN 46901 (765)454-0001.