Benson dates to 1791, and 28% of its homes were built before 1940
2 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 87 buildings between them. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1893 on, and the census since 1790.
In 1777, Walter Durfee, a Revolutionary War veteran from Massachusetts, made the first settlement in Benson. At that time the only road in town was the military road from Castleton to Ticonderoga, over which General St. Clair's army passed on its retreat after the evacuation of Ticonderoga, on July 6, 1777. Durfee found his way through the woods by a bridle path made by the surveyors and followed their marks on the trees. During the summer and autumn of 1782, he was the only person who had a settled habitation in the town. He was originally from Freetown, Massachusetts but moved to Benson from Poultney. In 1780 he purchased the entire right of Isaac Clark, one of the original proprietors of Benson; and also the entire right of John G Rover, another original proprietor. In the spring of 1782, Durfee cleared the primeval forest and erected a log house on what was afterward known as …
Passages that mention Benson, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Rutland County, Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers1886 · page 469Read the page →
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finally finished until the summer of 1803. In the summer of 1824 a large bell was procured by private subscription at an expense of about $450 ; this was the first church bell in the town. The church society was organized December 10, 1799, and called "the First Congregational Society in Benson;" but this was superseded in November, 18 14, by the organization which has been in existence since that date. Succeeding the pastorate of Mr. Kent, the church was supplied by several different preachers down to 1829, when, in July, Rev.
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History of Rutland County, Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers1886 · page 454Read the page →
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THE grant of the townships of Benson and Fairhaven (the latter then including the present town of Westhaven and adjoining Benson on the south), was made by " the Governor, Council and General Assembly of the Representatives of the Freemen of Vermont," October 27, 1779. While the Fairhaven charter bears the above date, for some reason that of Benson was delayed and its date is May 5, 1780. The grant was made to seventy-five individual proprietors, with five equal shares for school and gospel purposes, as was customary. The original proprietors who were active in procuring the
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lie was for many years an inn-keeper in Benson, and always, when in active life, a leading and influential citizen. He removed from Benson to Granville, N. Y. in 1833, and from thence, in the spring of 1836, to Leroy, N. Y., the residence of his eldest son, Dr.
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He wrote a history of the town of Benson for Miss Ilemenway's Gazetteer, probably one of the most perfect town histories that has ever been written in Vermont. At the time of his death he was one of the Vice-Presidents of the Vermont Historical Society, and President of the Rutland County Historical Society.
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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, 1791 to 1965
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born 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 (23), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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 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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