The village was established in 1874 with the construction of the Chicago, Pekin and Southwestern Railroad. The town was named after S.H. Benson of Streator, Illinois, the railroad's general freight manager. The grid layout of the town is aligned to the line of the former railroad, rather than the usual north-south orientation. A post office was established in 1873. East Friselanders, Plattdeutsch-speaking Lutherans, settled in the Benson area in 1858.
The Benson Water Tower was replaced with a modern water tower in the 1980s and has since been demolished.
Passages that mention Benson, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of the Baptist churches of Woodford County, Illinois1913 · page 29Read the page →
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the church as pastor until the church called Elder Samuel Breakwell in June 1883. The next pastor was Rev. I. C. Hall, who closed his labors when the church called Brother L. R. Banks on March 21st, 1885. He vvas ordained at Benson November I2th, 1885, resigning June 27th, 1886. On March 12th, 1887, Brother Neyman was called as pastor and ordained at Benson May 19th, 1887. This closes the connection between the Benson and the Clayton churches as one church and on February
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The religious interests of Benson are well cared for. In 1873 the Catholic church was started by Rev. Father Marger, of Lourds. The land for the building was donated by John Weast. It was dedicated by Rev. Father Steinberg in 1875.
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West of Benson in Linn township we find a region that is now called Ihe Tjaden settlement, from llie number of Tjadens who own and occupy land in that vicinity. Jacob II. Tjaden canu' to that township in 1857, and purchased a farm. He was the father of Ileika, John, Menka, Henry, Jacob, Ludwig and Ilermon Tjaden. John F., represented Linn township on the board of supervisors for several years.
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Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Benson, 1873 to 1986
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (6), Wikidata (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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