Howard County, Indiana

Howard County is one of 92 counties in the of. It is part of the, which consists of Howard and  counties. Originally named Richardville County, it was rechristened in 1844 to commemorate General. As of 2000, the population was 84,964. The is Kokomo.. The license plate number for Howard County is 34.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 761 (294 ). 759 km² (293 sq mi) of it is land and 2 km² (1 sq mi) of it (0.29%) is water.

Adjacent Counties

 * (North)
 * (East)
 * (South)
 * (Southwest)
 * (West)
 * (Northwest)

History
This County was organized in 1844. It was first known as Richardville County. Its first name honored, a chief of the. Richardville's name was, which translates to Wildcat, hence.

In 1846, the name was changed to Howard County, in honor of Gen., from Indiana, who died in 1844.

In June 1985 a school in the county known as became famous for expelling  (December 6, 1971 - April 8,1990) for contracting AIDS. White was a severe hemophiliac, becoming infected with HIV when receiving a tainted batch of blood products as part of his hemophilia treatment. Over 117 parents and 50 teachers, signed a petition encouraging school leaders to ban White from the school.

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 84,964 people, 34,800 households, and 23,559 families residing in the county. The was 112/km² (290/sq mi). There were 37,604 housing units at an average density of 50/km² (128/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 89.73%, 6.55% or , 0.36% , 1.01% , 0.02% , 0.85% from , and 1.49% from two or more races. 2.01% of the population were or  of any race. 24.6% were of, 20.9% , 9.7% and 8.0%  ancestry according to.

There were 34,800 households out of which 31.30% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.70% were living together, 11.50% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.30% were non-families. 28.20% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.30% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.41 and the average family size was 2.95.

In the county the population was spread out with 25.60% under the age of 18, 8.30% from 18 to 24, 28.20% from 25 to 44, 24.60% from 45 to 64, and 13.30% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 93.70 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.00 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $43,487, and the median income for a family was $53,051. Males had a median income of $43,767 versus $26,566 for females. The for the county was $22,049. About 6.60% of families and 9.50% of the population were below the, including 13.20% of those under age 18 and 6.50% of those age 65 or over.

Howard County is Indiana's second most wealthy county, only is wealthier.

Places to See

 * Kokomo Reservoir ( Reservoir)
 * Western Days Festival: First week of June, in ,
 * Howard County 4-H Fair, in ,
 * Koh-Koh-Mah & Foster Living History Encampment, mid-September

Road Construction
and Howard County are currently working together for major road construcion on Kokomo's west side. North Dixon Road is closed from Markland Avenue (south) to Sycamore Street (north). When complete, Dixon Road will be four lanes from Alto Road (south) to Jefferson Street (north).