Old Ben

Died 1910 - Kokomo, Indiana

When Old Ben was Newborn Ben in 1902, he weighed 135 pounds. By the time he had to be destroyed after he slipped on some ice and broke both legs, he weighed two and a half tons, and measured out at longer than sixteen feet.

After he died, his owners, the Murphy Brothers of nearby Miami, had him mounted and presented to the city of Kokomo, as proof to all those who might say, "There ain't no such animal." The grateful town pinned a ribbon on Old Ben, and put him in a big glass box in Highland Park. He's been there since 1919. The display also contains a pile of hay.

Highland Park is also home to The World's Largest Sycamore Stump (57 feet in circumference, 217 in. diameter). It has its own glass enclosure as well, although it spent most of its millenium of life along Wildcat Creek, west of town. It was moved to the park and used as a phone booth for years, before earning its own kiosk of honor next to Old Ben.

Nearby park revelers and picnickers wander over to check on the steer...then, the stump. An embarrassed local dad muttered, "Only in Kokomo..."

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