Benton County is a county located in the west central part of the state of Missouri. The population was 19,056 as of the 2010 US Census. Its county seat is Warsaw. The county was organized January 3, 1835, and named for US Senator Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri
Named for Thomas Hart Benton, United States senator
County QuickFacts: CensusBureau Quick Facts
In the west-central part of Missouri, bounded on the north by Pettis County, on the east by Morgan and Camden Counties, on the south by Hickory County, and on the west by St. Clair and Henry Counties. Organized January 3, 1835, out of parts of Pettis and Greene Counties. Until 1845 Benton included the present Hickory County north of T. 36, and an additional 216 sq. mi. in its northwest corner, between Windsor and Ionia, now in Pettis County. Between 1835 and 1841 it also included a part of the present Camden County, south of the Osage River and west of the Big Niangua. Named for the distinguished Missouri statesman Thomas Hart Benton (1782-1858), US Senator 1821-1851. In 1835 he was at the height of his popularity and influence. Counties in seven other states, and more than thirty towns and villages, have been named for Senator Benton. (Campbell (1873) 11; Eaton (1917); Garnett; Dict. Am. Biog. (1930); Dr. R.L. Ramsay)
Source: Overlay, Fauna R. "Place Names Of Five South Central Counties Of Missouri." M.A. thesis., University of Missouri-Columbia, 1943.
As reported by the Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 753 square miles (1,950 km2), of which 704 square miles (1,820 km2) is
land and 48 square miles (120 km2) (6.4%) is water
Bordering counties are as follows:
Cole Camp R-I School District - Cole Camp
Lincoln R-II School District - Lincoln
Warsaw R-IX School District - Warsaw
Lutheran School Association - Cole Camp (K-08) - Lutheran
It should be noted that most of the students who attend Cole Camp's Lutheran School Association attend either Benton County R-1 High in Cole Camp or Sacred Heart High School, a Catholic high school in the nearby city of Sedalia