Benton, Missouri

Scott County Courthouse, Benton, Missouri

Benton is a city within Scott County, Missouri, of which it is the county seat. It had a population of 863 at the 2010 census.

History[edit]

A settlement on the current site of Benton was made as early as 1796 by Captain Charles Friend, but was not organized until 1822, when a local landowner, Colonel William Meyers, provided land for a town to be laid out. It was named in honor of Thomas Hart Benton, one of Missouri's first senators and a prominent national statesman during the antebellum era.^[1]

Benton was chosen to be the county seat for the newly-created Scott County, as it was close to the geographic center of the county. Except from 1864 to 1878, when the seat of government was moved to Commerce, it has held that status continuously.^[2]

The current courthouse (at least the third such building), designed in the Beaux Arts fashion, was constructed in 1912 and sits along U.S. Route 61. In 2004, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.^[3]

Geography[edit]

Benton is located in central Scott County, at the junction of U.S. Route 61 and Missouri State Highway 77, with Interstate 55 about a mile to the east. Its exact coordinates are 37°05’49”N, 89°33’44”W. Scott City is about eight miles to the north, and Sikeston is about 15 miles to the south.

The town sits atop the southeastern face of Crowley's Ridge, a range of low hills in the northern part of the county, well above the low-lying floodplain nearby (another reason it was chosen to be the county seat). Benton has a total land area of 0.64 square miles, and an elevation of 436 feet.^[4]

Demographics[edit]

At the 2010 census, Benton had a total of 863 inhabitants, grouped into 311 households, with a population density of 1,628.3 people per square mile. This figure represented a significant increase from the 2000 census, when Benton had a population of 732. 94.21% of the inhabitants were White, 4.87% were African-American, 0.23% were from other races, and 0.7% were from two or more races. Hispanics of any race were 1.51% of the population.

The median age in Benton was 35.5 years, with 24.2% of inhabitants under the age of 18, 9.5% between 18 and 24 years old, 30.5% between 25 and 44, 24.7% between 45 and 64, and 11.1% 65 years old or older. The sex ratio was 52.8% male, 47.2% female.^[5]

According to the 2017 American Community Survey, the median household income in Benton was $49,833, and the median family income was $70,625. The unemployment rate was 2.9%. The per capita income was $23,325. About 17.7% of the population lived below the poverty line, including 20.3% of people under the age of 18 and 6.1% of people 65 years old or older.^[6]

Education[edit]

Benton and the region to the east are served by the Scott County R-IV School District, locally known as "Kelly" after the Thomas W. Kelly High School. It is a PK-12 public school with an enrollment of about 1,000 students; its mascot is the Hawks, and its colors are maroon and yellow.^[7]

There is also a Roman Catholic parochial school, St. Denis School, serving grades 1 through 8.

Community Life[edit]

Much of the local economy revolves around county government, with numerous businesses located around the courthouse. More recently, economic activity has migrated to the east side of town, near Interstate 55; this area includes several restaurants and stores, as well as Boomland, a large gift shop and major fireworks vendor around the Fourth of July. It also has locations in Dexter and Charleston.

Benton is home to a large Catholic population, most of which attends St. Denis Catholic Church in town. The rest are mostly Protestant.^[8]

References[edit]