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 1764, and 22% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1929 on and the census since 1840.

1764founded
0on the National Register
22%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Ascended Dreamer · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Benton began, and where its name came from

When was Benton founded?

1764

Benton dates its founding to 1764 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1840.

First census: 413 in 18402020 census: 374262 years

How did Benton get its name?

Benton was named "Coventry" after Coventry, Connecticut, hometown to many of the settlers, who arrived shortly after the beginning of the Revolution.

More on the name

At the suggestion of Governor Isaac Hill, the name was changed on December 4, 1840, to Benton, in honor of Thomas Hart Benton, the Missouri senator who championed American westward expansion.

Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1843. Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.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.Shrank, then grewLost two-thirds of its people between 1850 and 1960, then more than doubled.Older than the countryEstablished in 1764, 12 years before the Declaration of Independence.
★ 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
People over time

Benton, census by census

01002003004005001850190019502000478 in 1850Low: 172

Lost two-thirds of its people between 1850 and 1960, then more than doubled.

19 censuses, 1840–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Benton’s Wikipedia page.

Timeline

Benton, 1764 to 1929

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

  1. 18th century
  2. 1764
    FoundingBenton is established
  3. 19th century
  4. 1843Post officeThe Benton post office opens
  5. 1850CensusPopulation peaks at 478
  6. 20th century
  7. 1917Post officeThe Benton post office closes
  8. 1929On 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 →

The town was granted by Governor Benning Wentworth on January 31, 1764, to Theophilus Fitch and others. It was named "Coventry" after Coventry, Connecticut, hometown to many of the settlers, who arrived shortly after the beginning of the Revolution. At the suggestion of Governor Isaac Hill, the name was changed on December 4, 1840, to Benton, in honor of Thomas Hart Benton, the Missouri senator who championed American westward expansion.

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, 1929 to 1995

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 1929 USGS mapBenton on the 1932 USGS mapBenton on the 1967 USGS mapBenton on the 1989 USGS mapBenton on the 1995 USGS map1929Moosilauke 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.

Famous people

Famous people close to Benton

Nobody well known was born in Benton itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Bode MillerAmerican alpine ski racer · b. 1977
Eliza CoupeAmerican actress · b. 1981
Solon Irving BaileyAmerican astronomer · b. 1854
Clement Calhoun YoungGovernor of California · b. 1869
Nathan CliffordAmerican politician · b. 1803
Clara Eaton CummingsAmerican cryptogamic botanist and university te… · b. 1855
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Benton had its own post office from 1843 to 1917.

Benton
1843–1917
18401930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Boutin Corner
Gone or out of use
Wildwood Civilian Conservation Corps Campgroundlocale
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Benton
BentonEast

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

WoodstockIts storyBHaverhill4 historic placesA+WarrenIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLandaffIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townPiermont2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Benton’s history

What year was Benton founded?

In 1764, according to Wikidata. Benton’s post office opened in 1843, and the census of 1840 counted 413 people here.

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, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.