The Charming Small Town in Indiana That Is Home To The World’s Largest Steer And Sycamore Stump
By Will Suphan|Published December 20, 2022
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Will Suphan
Author
Will has been living in Arizona off and on for 30+ years in the Phoenix Metro and Tucson areas. He has traveled all over the state as well as having lived all over the Southwest. He's been writing for OnlyInYourState for one year and has previously written for Digital Journal. Will has a passion for travel and writing and combining the two is what he loves most. He loves solo international travel and has been to Thailand, France, Japan, and Cambodia.
There’s one charming small town in Indiana that boasts two of the world’s largest objects. Kokomo, Indiana has a taxidermy of the largest steer ever born in the world and the largest sycamore tree stump on the planet. While the town of Kokomo has many attractions and mysteries, and is simply lovely in itself, this spot holds some of the most amazing attractions in the state.
These buildings are nestled in this lovely little park in Kokomo and within them are two massive attractions as well as several bits of local history, some of which date back to the 1800s.
This is Ben, the largest steer ever born on earth. There were offers from circus owners and sideshows to buy Ben, but his owners never sold him. They chose to do their own showings at several Indiana fairs and at the annual State Fair.
This sign bears all the amazing details of Ben’s birth, death, size, and weight. He was featured in Ripley’s Believe It or Not in 1968. Ben was put into storage for decades with occasional showings but became a permanent attraction in 1989.
This is an enormous sycamore stump that fell due to an intense storm. The town’s commissioner, Jacob Bergman paid someone $300 to haul it to the park as an artifact from the pioneer days. This was in 1916 and that would be the equivalent of about $8000.
This sign provides basic information about the stump. What it doesn’t say is that the stump once housed a telephone booth that has since been removed. Before it was placed in this location, it was vandalized by people who carved their names into it. It was moved into this place at the same time as Ben in 1989.
As an extra attraction, it’s not the world’s largest cannon, but it is historically significant as it was used during the Civil War and is one of only three of these bronze howitzers still in existence.
Have you been to Kokomo to see Ben the massive steer or the giant sycamore stump? This quaint little town is packed with various attractions, including an outdoor art gallery called Artist Alley. If you’ve been to Kokomo, Indiana, let us know your favorite things about it in the comments.
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