Benton County, Mississippi

Benton County Education, Geography, and History

Benton County is a county located in the state of Mississippi. Based on the 2010 census, the population was 8,729. Its county seat is Ashland. Local lore has it that residents convinced the post-Civil War Reconstruction government that Benton County was to be named for US Senator Thomas Hart Benton, but the name actually honored Confederate Brigadier General Samuel Benton from nearby Holly Springs.

Benton County is included in the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Etymology - Origin of Benton County Name

Benton is named for US Senator from Missouri Thomas Hart Benton. Thomas Hart Benton nicknamed "Old Bullion" (March 14, 1782 - April 10, 1858), was a US Senator from Missouri and a staunch advocate of westward expansion of the United States. He served in the Senate from 1821 to 1851, becoming the first member of that body to serve five terms. Benton was an architect and champion of westward expansion by the United States, a cause that became known as Manifest Destiny.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: CensusBureau Quick Facts

Benton County History

Benton County is another Mississippi county organized during the reconstruction times, being organized from parts of Marshall and Tippah counties, July 15, 1870, during the administration of Governor Alcorn. Its name honors the memory of General Samuel Benton, who was killed in the War for Southern Independence at the battle of Ezra Church, near Atlanta, July 28, 1864. Its early annals are identical with those of the region from which its territory was carved.

Ashland, the county seat, is situated at the center of the county and is a small incorporated village of 200 inhabitants, named for the home of Henry Clay. Besides Ashland, there are a number of other small towns in the county, the more important of which are Lamar and Michigan City on the Illinois Central railroad and Hickory Flat and Winborn on the Kansas City, Memphis & Birmingham division of the San Francisco & St. Louis system. The Illinois Central line cuts across the northwestern corner of Benton County, and the latter railroad through its southwestern corner. Ashland, the county seat, has no railroad connection.

Geography: Land and Water

As reported by the Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 409 square miles (1,058 km²), of which, 407 square miles (1,054 km²) of it is land and 2 square miles (5 km²) of it (0.46%) is water.

The headwaters of the Wolf River meander and braid their way north and west across northern Benton County from Baker's Pond, the river's source spring (highest origin of continuous flow) in the Holly Springs National Forest approximately 1 mile southwest of where US Highway 72 passes into Tippah County, Mississippi. The Wolf passes into Fayette County, Tennessee between Michigan City (on the Mississippi side) and La Grange, Tennessee.

Neighboring Counties

Bordering counties are as follows:

• Hardeman County, Tennessee (northeast)
• Tippah County (east)
• Union County (south)
• Marshall County (west)
• Fayette County, Tennessee (northwest)

Education

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