Aerial survey · USDA NAIP · public domainKokomo's first Black-owned mortuary, built 1901 near the courthouse grounds where public executions once drew crowds
208 E Mulberry St, Kokomo, IN 46901
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
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Free
Private building; exterior viewing only from public sidewalk
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Wheelchair OK
Flat urban sidewalk
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Photos OK
Est. 1901 · First Black-owned funeral home in Kokomo · African American business history · Howard County public execution history
The building at 208 E Mulberry Street dates to 1901, constructed to serve Kokomo's Black community at a time when segregation kept Black families from patronizing white-owned funeral establishments. It operated as the first Black-owned funeral home in the city — a community institution that handled the remains of its neighbors for decades.
The location carried a darker historical weight. The Howard County Courthouse, a short distance away, was the site of public executions carried out on the courthouse lawn in an era when such spectacles were not unusual for Indiana county seats. According to documented accounts, remains from those executions were brought to the mortuary on Mulberry Street.
During renovations in 2000, the building's owner discovered boxes of unclaimed personal belongings — items left behind with remains that were never claimed by family. Those discoveries were reported in the Kokomo Tribune in 2002, drawing attention to the building's layered history. The structure has since passed through various occupancies, and tenants and neighborhood children have described ongoing unexplained activity.
Sources
The paranormal accounts from Jacob's Funeral Home concentrate around the post-renovation period, after unclaimed belongings were found during the 2000 remodel. Tenants have reported shadow figures moving through the building, voices audible when the structure is empty, and mechanical anomalies — lights switching on without apparent cause and faucets turning on by themselves.
Children in the neighborhood have also described encounters with the building, adding a geographic spread to the accounts beyond the building's immediate occupants. The angelfire.com site dedicated to the location, published not long after the 2002 Kokomo Tribune coverage, documented these accounts contemporaneously.
The building's combination of mortuary use, courthouse proximity, and the discovered cache of unclaimed belongings gives the reported phenomena a specific historical anchor that distinguishes these accounts from generic haunted-building folklore.
The 1901 building is a private structure. Visitors may view the exterior from the public sidewalk. The nearby Howard County Courthouse, where executions were carried out on the courthouse lawn, is one block away and publicly accessible.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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