Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Benton

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Benton

Benton dates to 1828, and 12% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1961 on.

1828founded
0on the National Register
12%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Benton began

When was Benton founded?

1828

Benton dates its founding to 1828 (Wikipedia’s history). Its post office opened in 1829.

2020 census: 415198 years
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1829.The full story ↓

What stands out about Benton’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Benton are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Deep rootsEstablished in 1828: 198 years of Benton.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Benton’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Benton’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Timeline

Benton, 1828 to 1961

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1828
    FoundingBenton is established
  3. 1829Post officeThe Benton post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1927Born hereFred Waters is born here
  6. 1961On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story

How Benton came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Benton.

Read it all →

Benton was settled in 1828 by William P. Gadberry. The first county court was held in his log home.

The county seat was moved from Beatties Bluff to Benton in 1829. Benton developed quickly, and soon became the center of trade. Benton was chartered in 1836, and incorporated in 1846. In 1849, the county seat was moved to Yazoo City, to which a Mr. Benton wrote at the time:With the removal of the county seat, Benton began to decline and each year its population lessens, and the few houses left are dilapidated, dingy, decaying, and tumbling down. Its population is about forty or fifty. It has two or three small stores, which do a limited neighborhood business.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

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.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your album
On the map

Benton on the map, 1961 to 1988

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Benton. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Benton on the 1961 USGS mapBenton on the 1988 USGS map1961Yazoo City sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Benton.

Questions about Benton’s history

What year was Benton founded?

In 1828, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Benton’s post office opened in 1829.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.