Benton, Kentucky | |
---|---|
Coordinates: 36°51′19″N88°21′15″W / 36.85528°N 88.35417°W | |
Country | United States |
State | Kentucky |
County | Marshall |
Area | |
• Total | 5.10 sq mi (13.20 km2) |
• Land | 5.04 sq mi (13.05 km2) |
• Water | 0.06 sq mi (0.15 km2) |
Elevation | 423 ft (129 m) |
Population (2020) | |
• Total | 4,756 |
• Estimate (2022) [3] | 4,762 |
• Density | 944.03/sq mi (364.52/km2) |
Time zone | UTC-6 (Central (CST)) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC-5 (CDT) |
ZIP code | 42025 |
Area codes | 270 & 364 |
FIPS code | 21-05824 |
GNIS feature ID | 2403856 [2] |
Website | www.cityofbenton.org |
Benton is a home rule-class city in Marshall County, Kentucky, United States. The current mayor of this city is Rita Dotson. [4] The population was 4,756 at the 2020 census. [5] It is the county seat of Marshall County. [6]
Benton was founded in 1842 by John Bearden and Francis H. Clayton. The town was named for Thomas Hart Benton, a senator from Missouri. [7] Benton was then incorporated in 1845. [8]
In 1908, Benton drove its African American residents out of town, becoming a sundown town along with the rest of Marshall County. [9]
On January 23, 2018, a mass shooting occurred at Marshall County High School, near Benton, resulting in 19 injuries and 2 fatalities. [10] [11]
On December 10, 2021, the town was hit by the 2021 Western Kentucky Tornado.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 3.9 square miles (10 km2), all land. Benton lies in the center of the county encompassing the hills just south and west of Clarks River. Benton is the county seat of Marshall county, in the far western region of west Kentucky known as the Jackson purchase.
Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
---|---|---|---|
1860 | 165 | — | |
1880 | 277 | — | |
1890 | 344 | 24.2% | |
1900 | 664 | 93.0% | |
1910 | 824 | 24.1% | |
1920 | 897 | 8.9% | |
1930 | 1,021 | 13.8% | |
1940 | 1,906 | 86.7% | |
1950 | 1,980 | 3.9% | |
1960 | 3,074 | 55.3% | |
1970 | 3,652 | 18.8% | |
1980 | 3,700 | 1.3% | |
1990 | 3,899 | 5.4% | |
2000 | 4,197 | 7.6% | |
2010 | 4,349 | 3.6% | |
2020 | 4,756 | 9.4% | |
2022 (est.) | 4,762 | [12] | 0.1% |
U.S. Decennial Census [13] |
As of the 2010 Census, [14] there were 4,349 people, 1,809 households, and 1,154 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,007.4 inhabitants per square mile (389.0/km2). There were 2,032 housing units at an average density of 470.7 per square mile (181.7/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 97.4% White (96.4% non-Hispanic), 0.4% African American, 0.1% Native American and Alaska Native, 0.6% Asian, 0.6% from other races, and 0.9% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 1.8% of the population.
There were 1,809 households, out of which 27.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.5% were married couples living together, 11.4% had a female householder with no husband present, 3.9% had a male householder with no wife present, and 36.2% were non-families. 33.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 17.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.26 and the average family size was 2.84.
The age distribution was 21.5% under 18, 7.7% from 18 to 24, 26.1% from 25 to 44, 23.4% from 45 to 64, and 21.4% who were 65 or older. The median age was 40.5 years. For every 100 females, there were 89.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.7 males.
Based on 2008–2012 estimates from the American Community Survey, the median income for a household in the city was $42,342, and the median income for a family was $62,500. Among full-time workers, males had a median income of $47,895 versus $29,272 for females. The per capita income for the city was $21,959. About 4.5% of families and 8.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 5.3% of those under age 18 and 10.7% of those age 65 or over.
Shape note singers gather annually at Benton on the fourth Sunday in May to sing from a tunebook called The Southern Harmony . This event, organized in 1884 and called The Big Singing or Big Singing Day, is the oldest continuous Southern Harmony singing in the United States. [15]
Tater Day was started in 1843 as a celebration of spring, and a time when all of the townsfolk would get together and trade in sweet potato slips, used to grow the plants. [16] It is also the oldest continuous trade day in the United States, in which goods such as guns, 'coon hounds, tobacco, or livestock are swapped or sold. [17] [18] Tater Day brings to town carnival rides, games, a market, a potato eating contest, mule pulls, and a "biggest potato" contest, which attracts large potatoes from across the county. The biggest part of the festival is the parade, which completes one circuit around the town. It includes political floats, Marshall County High School marching band, horses and buggies, clowns, vintage cars, horses, Miss Tater Day, and other things for which Marshall County is known. There is also Junior Miss Tater Day for little girls ages 5 to 12, and Little Mister, Tiny Miss, and Baby Miss Tater day pageants and floats for the younger kids. There is also an annual Tater day derby that is hosted at the dirt track at the Benton City Park.
Benton is part of the Marshall County School District. There are 11 schools in the district, not including the technical school that is incorporated with Marshall County High School, the district's only secondary educational institution. For the 2011 to 2012 school year, there were approximately 4,838 students enrolled in the district. [19]
Benton has a lending library, a branch of the Marshall County Public Library. [20]
McCracken County is a county located in the far west portion of U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 67,875. The county seat and only municipality is Paducah. McCracken County was the 78th county formed in the state, having been created in 1825. It is part of the historic Jackson Purchase, territory sold by the Chickasaw people to General Andrew Jackson and Governor Isaac Shelby; this territory was located at the extreme western end of Kentucky.
Saline County is located along the Missouri River in the U.S. state of Missouri. As of the 2020 census, the population was 23,333. Its county seat is Marshall. The county was established November 25, 1820, and named for the region's salt springs.
Marshall County is a county located in far western portion of the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 31,659. Its county seat is Benton.
Lyon County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 8,680. Its county seat is Eddyville. The county was formed from Caldwell County, Kentucky in 1854 and named for former Congressman Chittenden Lyon.
Livingston County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 8,888. Its county seat is Smithland and its largest community is Ledbetter. The county was established in 1798 from land taken from Christian County and is named for Robert R. Livingston, a member of the Committee of Five that drafted the U.S. Declaration of Independence. The county was strongly pro-Confederate during the American Civil War and many men volunteered for the Confederate Army. Livingston County is part of the Paducah, KY-IL Micropolitan Statistical Area. It is a prohibition or dry county with the exception of Grand Rivers which voted to allow alcohol sales in 2016.
Hopkins County is a county located in the western part of the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 45,423. Its county seat is Madisonville. Hopkins County was created December 9, 1806 from Henderson County. It was named for General Samuel Hopkins, an officer in both the American Revolutionary War and War of 1812, and later a Kentucky legislator and U.S. Congressman.
Benton is a city in and the county seat of Saline County, Arkansas, United States and a suburb of Little Rock. It was established in 1837. At the 2010 census, the city had a population of 30,681. In 2019 the population was estimated at 36,820. It is part of the Little Rock–North Little Rock–Conway Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city of Benton, first settled in 1833 and named after Missouri Senator Thomas Hart Benton, was formally chartered in 1836 when Arkansas became a state.
Kevil is a home rule-class city in Ballard County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 376 at the 2010 census, down from 574 in 2000. It is part of the Paducah micropolitan area.
Wickliffe is a home rule-class city in Ballard County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 688 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Ballard County.
Marion is a home rule-class city in Crittenden County, Kentucky, in the United States. It is the seat of its county. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 3,039.
Nortonville is a home rule-class city in Hopkins County, Kentucky, in the United States. The population was 1,204 as of the 2010 census.
Smithland is a home rule-class city in Livingston County, Kentucky, United States, at the confluence of the Ohio and Cumberland Rivers. The population was 301 at the 2010 census, a drop from 401 in 2000. It is the county seat of Livingston County.
Hardin is a home rule-class city in Marshall County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 580 at the 2020 census.
Hendron is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in McCracken County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 4,774 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Paducah, KY-IL Micropolitan Statistical Area.
Paducah is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of McCracken County, Kentucky, United States. The largest city in the Jackson Purchase region, it is located at the confluence of the Tennessee and the Ohio rivers, halfway between St. Louis, Missouri, to the northwest and Nashville, Tennessee, to the southeast. As of the 2020 census, the population was 27,137, up from 25,024 during the 2010 U.S. Census. Twenty blocks of the city's downtown have been designated as a historic district and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Reidland is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in McCracken County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 4,526 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Paducah, KY-IL Micropolitan Statistical Area.
Central City is a home rule-class city in Muhlenberg County, Kentucky, in the United States. The population was 5,819 at the 2020 census. It is the largest city in the county and the principal community in the Central City Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Muhlenberg County.
Camden is a city in Benton County, Tennessee. The population was 3,674 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Benton County.
Paducah is a town in Cottle County, Texas, United States. The population was 1,186 at the 2010 census, down from 1,498 in 2000. It is the county seat of Cottle County. It is just south of the Texas Panhandle and east of the Llano Estacado.
Calvert City is a home rule-class city in Marshall County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 2,514 at the 2020 census.
The women folk of the last three negro families remaining in Benton arrived in Paducah last night to join the men and heads of the families who have been here several days seeking homes. The refugees say that Sallie Pryor and her family, the woman on whose doors the notice for all negroes to leave Benton, comprise the only colored family now in Benton and that she says she intends to stay no matter what the consequences. The exodus of the negroes from Benton and Birmingham takes about all the negroes out of Marshall county, as there have been no refugees in certain sections of the county for many years, having been driven out on other occasions.