The story
Read it all →How Benton City came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Benton City.
Benton City was platted in 1881. The village is named after Thomas Hart Benton.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
–Not graded
History · Benton City
Benton City’s post office opened in 1869
Most of Benton City was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1970. Below: maps from 1932 on and the census since 1880.
1869first post office
0on the National Register
8%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
How Benton City began
When was Benton City founded?
1869
The Benton City post office opened in 1869, the earliest record of the town by name.
First census: 64 in 18802020 census: 101157 years
Founding year: the first Benton City post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
What stands out about Benton City’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Benton City’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Benton City’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.People over time
Benton City, census by census
Peaked at 233 in 1910; 101 people lived here in 2020.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Benton City’s Wikipedia page.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Benton City in 1884
Passages that mention Benton City, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Audrain County, Missouri1884 · page 410Read the page →
Read the text
Presbyterian Church of Benton City. — The organization of this church was commenced on the 19th of November, 1882, and com¬ pleted April 15, 1883, the accomplishment of which was terminated bv installing W. C. Hamilton ruling elder, and ordaining and installing W. R. Whiteside and Levi Watts, deacons. These three officers were elected at the first meeting, November 19, 1882. By appoint¬ ment of the Presbytery of Missouri, Rev. J. F. Cowan, D.D., pre¬ sided at the ordination and installation of these officers, and was
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Benton City, 1869 to 1932
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1869Post officeThe Benton City post office opens
- 20th century
- 1910CensusPopulation peaks at 233
- 1932
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade
No old photos in the archives yet
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
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Add from your albumOn the map
Benton City on the map, 1932 to 1984
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Benton City. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1932Mexico sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Benton City.
Questions about Benton City’s history
What year was Benton City founded?
The Benton City post office opened in 1869, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
Start a conversation
Sources
Where this page comes from
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 Wikipedia, 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 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.