Kokomo was established as a town 133 years before The Beach Boys sang about a fictitious Caribbean island of the same name, and the proof can be found in the Old Silk Stocking neighborhood. Located just west of Downtown Kokomo, the neighborhood contains many of Kokomo’s most historic homes and houses of worship.
Foster Park, named after town founder David Foster, is Kokomo’s signature park. Located on the north banks of Wildcat Creek, the park hosts many city events. It’s also home to the Kokomo Arts Pavilion, basketball courts, tennis courts and a skate park. Willie the Whale, a sculpture moved to Kokomo from Indianapolis in 2019, greets passersby using the Wildcat Creek Walk of Excellence. UCT Baseball Park, which has two Little League diamonds, is just outside the neighborhood along Wildcat Creek.
Old Silk Stocking’s proximity to downtown makes popular businesses like Sun King Brewery or Missy’s Family Restaurant easy to visit. A triangle of pizzerias -- Oscar’s, Bruno’s and Pizza King – are just across the street from the neighborhood. Big Ben Coffee, which makes the promise “where friends meet friends” on its sign, is also in walking distance just a block to the north of Old Silk Stocking. “The community is keeping these mom-and-pops thriving,” says DJ Butcher, an associate broker with Fortune, Inc. Rhum Academy of Music, a non-profit which offers music lessons and art classes, is a beloved Old Silk Stocking business. For groceries, a Kroger on Kokomo’s West Side is the nearest supermarket.
Kokomo’s signature park hosts Kokomo’s signature event the final weekend of each June: the Haynes Apperson Festival. The festival commemorates the Haynes Apperson automobile – America's first successful gasoline-powered car, which was manufactured here in 1896. Naturally, the festival includes a parade and car show with vintage models. It’s also where Kokomo holds its annual fireworks show. On top of that, there’s an Olympic-like sports festival that features everything from a 5K race to 3-on-3 basketball and a pole-vaulting competition. Foster Park's Kokomo Arts Pavilion also hosts the weekly Kokomo Summer Concert Series. In winter, Christmas at the Seiberling is Old Silk Stocking’s biggest event. The grounds of Seiberling Mansion, a Queen Anne and Romanesque Revival house built in 1889 are covered in Christmas lights. Guests can tour the mansion or ride through the grounds in horse-drawn carriages.
Seiberling Mansion, now occupied by the Howard County Historical Society, is far from the only Victorian-era home in Old Silk Stocking – merely the largest. The neighborhood is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Several architectural styles are found here, sometimes even within the same house – bungalows, Colonial Revivals, Romanesque Revivals, Tudor Revivals and Queen Annes are all in the mix. “The cool thing about it is it's not your cookie-cutter neighborhood,” Butcher says. “There are areas where not one house is like the other. I always appreciated that.” Some of these houses sell for less than $75,000 and range up to $285,000.
Considering that the neighborhood was completed at a time when locally made cars maxed out at speeds of 24 mph, it should be no surprise that Old Silk Stocking is a very pedestrian and bike-friendly area. Public transit is also available on the Kokomo City Trolley Blue Line, which runs from downtown through the Old Silk Stocking.
Students north of Sycamore Street are zoned to attend Pettit Park Elementary, which receives a C-rating on Niche. They would move on to C-rated Bon Air Middle School before attending Kokomo High. South of Sycamore, students attend C-plus rated Sycamore Elementary and C-rated Maple Crest Middle before heading to Kokomo High. All Kokomo residents are also eligible to apply to Central Middle School, which is in Downtown Kokomo. The B-minus rated school is an authorized International Baccalaureate school.
A 2013 Wildcat Creek flood put most of Foster Park under water and severely damaged 150 homes in neighborhoods south of the creek, but largely spared Old Silk Stocking. It also made the bridges on Washington St. And McCann St. Temporarily unpassable. It remains the most severe flood in Kokomo history.
Jason Carter
MPR Realty, LLC
(574) 319-7004
169 Total Sales
1 in Old Silk Stocking
$139,000 Price
Chizuki Lothamer
@properties
(463) 205-0693
60 Total Sales
1 in Old Silk Stocking
$249,900 Price
Andy Hardie
The Hardie Group
(574) 701-3854
406 Total Sales
7 in Old Silk Stocking
$65K - $260K Price Range
Kristine Miller
Apple Tree Realty, LLC
(765) 553-6779
143 Total Sales
3 in Old Silk Stocking
$40K - $69K Price Range
James Tillett
BluPrint Real Estate Group
(844) 672-0424
23 Total Sales
1 in Old Silk Stocking
$73,900 Price
Elise Maxwell
The Hardie Group
(765) 553-6679
55 Total Sales
1 in Old Silk Stocking
$160,000 Price
Interested in learning more about homes in this area? Reach out to , an experienced agent in this neighborhood.
On average, homes in Old Silk Stocking, Kokomo sell after 40 days on the market compared to the national average of 70 days. The median sale price for homes in Old Silk Stocking, Kokomo over the last 12 months is $225,000, down 23% from the median home sale price over the previous 12 months.
$685 - $979 per month
Interested in learning more about homes in this area? Reach out to , an experienced agent in this neighborhood.
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A historic downtown reflecting Kokomo's recent resurgence
A residential neighborhood near Kokomo's newest manufacturing plants
Tidy mid-century neighborhood built near historic country club
A neighborhood with reminders of Kokomo's industrial heritage
Energy-efficient houses from World War II era near Markland Mall
Northwest Kokomo's retail and restaurant district
