Benton County, Indiana

Benton County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education

County Seat: Fowler
Year Organized: 1840
Square Miles: 406

Court House:

706 East 5th Street
County Courthouse
Fowler, IN 47944-1556

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Benton County is named for Thomas H. Benton, US Senator

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

History

Benton County was formed February 18, 1840. It is named for Thomas H. Benton (D), U.S. Senator from Missouri. The original county seat selected in 1843 was Oxford, but after a long struggle between contending factions it was moved to Fowler in 1874

Benton County is divided into 11 Civil Townships as follows: Bolivar, Center, Gilboa, Grant, Hickory Grove, Oak Grove, Parish Grove, Pine, Richland, Union and York.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 406 square miles (1,053 km²), of which 406 square miles (1,052 km²) is land and 0 square miles (0 km²) (0.02%) is water.

Neighboring Counties:

North: Newton County
Northeast: Jasper County; White County
Southeast: Tippecanoe County
South: Warren County
Southwest: Vermilion County, Ill.
Northwest: Iroquois County, Ill.

Cities and Towns:

- Ambia	town	Incorporated Area
- Bolivar	township
- Boswell	town	Incorporated Area
- Center	township
- Earl Park	town	Incorporated Area
- Fowler (County Seat)	town	Incorporated Area
- Gilboa	township
- Hickory Grove	township
- Otterbein	town	Incorporated Area
- Oxford	town	Incorporated Area
- Parish Grove	township
- Pine	township
- Union	township

County Resources:

Enter County Resources and Information Here

County Resource Guide

Counties: US Map

The history of our nation can be seen as a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names we've given our counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the "characteristic features of our country!"

But age, size and colorful names of our counties isn't the only reason to explore counties' role in American history, or the history of county government itself. In fact, the story of county government reflects the larger meanings of American history.

Today's counties are the most flexible, locally responsive and creative governments in the US. They are the most diverse, varying in size, population, geography, and governmental structure. In their politics and policies, they express a 1990's political slogan "Think globally, act locally."

Penn Foster High School

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