Kokomo experienced growth with the discovery of natural gas in 1886. Among those drawn by the area's natural resources was Elwood Haynes, a specialist in metallurgy and machinery who is said to have created America's first automobile as well as stainless steel and several other alloys. Haynes opened Indiana's first automobile plant in Kokomo in 1898. Kokomo industrialists were the first to produce the pneumatic rubber tire, the carburetor and a push-button car radio. Learn More...