Benton, Kentucky

13 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1936 and the latest in 1986. It stands in the Benton census division. It lies in ZIP code area 42025. It stands on Johns River. The Survey maps it on the Hardin quadrangle. 4,756 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 427 feet above sea level.

Benton within Marshall County

On record in Benton

Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.

On the National Register 2 records

James R. Lemon Houselisted 1975
Stilley Houselisted 1986

Population over time

2 figures

Benton grew from 4,349 to 4,756 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.

Year	People	Change
2010	4,349
2020	4,756	+407 (+9%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

7 surveys from 13 printed sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

1936 USGS Benton quadrangle1:48000
1936 USGS Hardin quadrangle1:24000
1951 USGS Hardin quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
1955 USGS Benton quadrangle1:62500
1956 USGS Dyersburg quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
1969 USGS Hardin quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
1986 USGS Murray quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings

Fires near this place

12 since 1998

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 12 fires within 5 miles of Benton between 1998 and 2016, burning about 264 acres in total. None started naturally. None was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause	Fires
Recreation and ceremony	5
Missing data/not specified/undetermined	4
Debris and open burning	2
Railroad operations and maintenance	1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

Date	Cause	Size	Reported by	Name on the report
6 September 2010	Recreation and ceremony	3.0 acres	Kentucky Division of Forestry	WHISPERING HILLS
23 September 2015	Recreation and ceremony	10 acres	Kentucky Division of Forestry	LITTLE BEAR CREEK FIRE
12 August 1999	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	30 acres	Kentucky Division of Forestry	not named
3 April 2005	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	3.5 acres	Kentucky Division of Forestry	not named
2 April 2011	Recreation and ceremony	5.0 acres	Kentucky Division of Forestry	OLIVE HAMLETT RD.
8 March 2007	Recreation and ceremony	2.0 acres	Kentucky Division of Forestry	not named
26 March 1998	Debris and open burning	7.0 acres	Kentucky Division of Forestry	not named
9 November 1999	Debris and open burning	3.0 acres	Kentucky Division of Forestry	not named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Marshall County

Mines and quarries near this place

1 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 1 working within 5 miles of Benton: 1 prospect. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Clay. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where	Site	Commodity	Status	Recorded
	Briensburg Shale	Clay	Prospect

Every working recorded in Marshall County

Storms near this place

60 of 79 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Benton in 79 storm reports between 1995 and 2025: 25 thunderstorm wind, 18 hail, 14 heavy rain, 10 flash flood. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

When	Event	Place named	Harm	What the report says
February 2025	Flood	Benton	$1,500,000	Significant areal flooding occurred on the northern and eastern sides of the city of Benton due to the arrival of extremely high water levels on the Clarks River, which had reached record levels upstream at Almo, and accompanying branches and streams. Many businesses on the north side of town near Main Street sustained water intrusion with vast areas completely covered. Rainfall amounts were around 5 to 6.5 inches with the KY Mesonet site 4 miles north of Benton recording 6.4 inches of rain on the 15th.
July 1997	Thunderstorm Wind	Benton	$200,000	A microburst with wind gusts estimated near 90 MPH blew down hundreds of trees. No injuries or deaths were reported, but a dog was found dead after the storm. A farmer lost 60 acres of soybeans to wind-driven hail. The local utility company estimated between ten and twenty utility poles were destroyed. About 5,000 homes lost power in the storm. One house lost a roof. A double wide trailer blew up against another one, and a third trailer was knocked off its foundation.
February 2025	Flash Flood	Benton	$100,000	Torrential rainfall during the evening hours, following the heavy rain from the earlier round, resulted in flash flooding issues on the north and east side of Benton with multiple roads closed. Flooding issues transitioned to areal flooding overnight with the highest water levels in the town of Benton occurring the following day with the arrival of extremely high waters on the Clarks River.
May 1995	Thunderstorm Wind	Benton	$70,000	About 60 homes were damaged in the storm, mostly by falling trees.
July 2016	Thunderstorm Wind	Benton	$60,000	There were scattered reports of downed trees in north central and northeast Marshall County. A wind gust to 58 mph was measured at the Kentucky mesonet site near Draffenville. Some isolated structural damage was reported in the area, mostly due to fallen trees. Several miles north of Fairdealing, trees were blown down near Kentucky Lake.
June 2006	Thunderstorm Wind	Benton	$50,000	Numerous trees were blown down. A few of the trees landed on houses and vehicles. Some roads were blocked by trees. Kentucky Highway 58 was partially blocked by downed power lines near Benton. Power outages lasted up to 24 hours for some residents of Benton.
July 1997	Hail	Benton	$50,000	no account filed
June 2012	Thunderstorm Wind	Benton	$35,000	In and around Benton, a metal storage building was damaged. A pole barn collapsed. A structure under construction was damaged. Three trees were blown down across roads. A house porch was damaged, and two trees were uprooted.
January 2020	Tornado (EF1)	Benton	$30,000	The tornado touched down near the U.S. 641 exit of Interstate 69 and moved north northeast. This tornado passed just beyond the northwestern outskirts of Benton, sparing the city from significant damage. Numerous trees were snapped or uprooted along the path. One barn had the roof blown off. There was other straight line wind damage in the immediate area. Peak winds in the tornado were estimated near 90 mph.
July 2001	Thunderstorm Wind	Benton	$30,000	The roof was blown off the Wildlife Management Center building. Seven or eight large trees were blown down. Numerous power lines were down in the area. A shed off Bethel Road was completely destroyed. The damage was mainly on the east side of Benton.
May 2010	Flash Flood	Benton	$20,000	In Benton, one lane at the intersection of Highway 58 and 10th street was closed due to a pavement washout. A storm-total rainfall from late on April 30th to early on May 2nd was measured at 7.80 inches in Hardin.
October 2007	Thunderstorm Wind	Benton	$20,000	Trees were blown down on West 8th, 9th, and 12th Streets. Roads were blocked for a short period of time. The SWAT trailer was overturned at the sheriff department.
April 2022	Thunderstorm Wind	Benton	$15,000	A downed tree blocked Highway 641 in Benton. Just southeast of Benton, a tree was down on a house and power lines. A house roof was damaged 5 miles northeast of Benton.
July 2023	Thunderstorm Wind	Benton	$10,000	Damaging winds accompanied a squall line across Marshall County. Multiple trees and power lines were down near Benton. A wind gust to 58 mph was measured with a handheld anemometer on the top of Kentucky Dam.
July 2023	Thunderstorm Wind	Benton	$10,000	Trees were down on roads.
June 2016	Thunderstorm Wind	Benton	$10,000	Numerous trees were down along roadways in Benton. Trees were blown down along U.S. Highway 641 just south of Benton.
May 1998	Thunderstorm Wind	Benton	$10,000	Seven or eight trees were downed. A house trailer was destroyed by a falling 12 inch diameter tree limb. A person escaped the trailer just seconds before it was destroyed.
December 2008	Thunderstorm Wind	Benton	$9,000	Several trees were blown down in the Benton area.
March 2022	Thunderstorm Wind	Benton	$5,000	Several trees were blown down in the Benton area.
January 2013	Thunderstorm Wind	Benton	$5,000	Windows were blown out of a home.
June 2006	Thunderstorm Wind	Benton	$5,000	At a summer camp along Kentucky Lake east of Benton, about 25 trees fell. One tree fell on an unoccupied cabin. There was slight damage to a fishing dock. Trees were down in other areas near Kentucky Lake, mainly northeast of Benton along Kentucky 963.
May 1995	Thunderstorm Wind	Benton	$2,000	no account filed
May 2024	Thunderstorm Wind	Benton	$1,000	A thunderstorm line moving through produced a measured 70 mph wind gust in Benton.
February 2025	Flood	Benton	-	KY-1462 was closed northeast of Benton due to flooding issues from heavy rains during the morning. Issues lingered through the day before the evening round of heavy rain intensified flooding near Benton.
January 2025	Flood	Benton	-	KY-1462 was closed due to high water between KY-408 and KY-1477. Approximately 2 inches of rain had fallen at the time of road closure, with an additional inch of rain through the evening.
March 2023	Flash Flood	Benton	-	Kentucky Route 1949 was closed at the 7 to 9 mile marker near the I-69 tunnel.
August 2021	Flash Flood	Benton	-	Kentucky Highway 1462 was closed at the Clarks River bridge.
January 2020	Flash Flood	Benton	-	Numerous roads were flooded across the county.
June 2019	Thunderstorm Wind	Benton	-	A wind gust to 70 mph was estimated by fire department personnel.
June 2019	Hail	Benton	-	Ping pong ball to golf ball size hail was reported by the fire department.
August 2018	Flood	Benton	-	Water was over one lane of U.S. Highway 641 in downtown Benton.
June 2017	Flash Flood	Benton	-	Several inches of water flowed over roads west of Benton. A number of roads were closed by local firefighters, sheriff deputies, and road crews. Three to four inches of rainfall was reported in some areas, most of which fell in a couple hours.
August 2016	Flash Flood	Benton	-	A small creek in Benton rose rapidly while small children were playing in it. Three small children were playing in Town Creek when a sudden torrent of water swept them away. A passerby rescued them from the floodwaters. One of the children was hanging from a branch, and the other two were swept further down the creek. No injuries were reported.
May 2015	Heavy Rain	Benton	-	A Kentucky mesonet site reported 1.51 inches of rain since midnight.
November 2015	Heavy Rain	Benton	-	An automated rain gage measured 2.94 inches in the past 48 hours.
November 2015	Heavy Rain	Benton	-	Kentucky Highway 1462 and Milliken Mills Road were closed due to water over the road. These roads are in bottomland flood plain along the Clarks River.
December 2015	Flood	Benton	-	The Clarks River rose out of its banks, flooding low-lying fields and woodlands. Kentucky Highway 1462 was closed at the east edge of Benton. A trained spotter measured a storm-total rainfall of 6.27 inches from the 23rd to the 28th. Of that total, 1.22 inches fell in 12 hours on the morning of the 28th.
July 2013	Heavy Rain	Benton	-	Strong thunderstorms produced torrential rainfall that caused minor urban and street flooding.
January 2012	Heavy Rain	Benton	-	A Kentucky mesonet site measured 1.01 inches of rain in 30 minutes.
March 2012	Flash Flood	Benton	-	Highway 1462 was closed due to high water between mile marker 0 and 1.
March 2012	Heavy Rain	Benton	-	Rainfall of 2.0 inches was recorded.
April 2011	Hail	Benton	-	This hailstorm continued northeast across Benton toward the Draffenville area.
April 2011	Hail	Benton	-	Hail up to the size of golf balls occurred with this severe storm, which earlier produced large hail in the southwest and west central part of the county. The largest hail was just south of the Benton city limits.
February 2011	Flood	Benton	-	The Clarks River flooded over Highway 1462 just east of Benton.
July 2009	Heavy Rain	Benton	-	Rainfall of 1.10 inches was measured in 40 minutes.
May 2009	Flood	Benton	-	The Clarks River flooded after a series of heavy downpours on the 8th and 9th. A young boy who was allowed to play in Clarks River floodwaters was rescued unhurt. The boy drifted about 1,500 feet before he was pulled into a rescue boat.
October 2009	Heavy Rain	Benton	-	High water signs were posted at a flood-prone spot on Kentucky 1949. The flood-prone spot is in a small tunnel.
April 2008	Flood	Benton	-	Due to flooding of the Clarks River, Highway 1462 was closed.
January 2007	Heavy Rain	Benton	-	Kentucky 1462 was flooded due to high water along the Clarks River.
January 2006	Heavy Rain	Benton	-	Widespread heavy rain on the 22nd caused fields along the Clarks River to go under water. Kentucky 1462 was closed just east of Benton due to water over the road. Rainfall was generally from 1 to 1.5 inches. Paducah measured 1.27 inches.
June 2006	Thunderstorm Wind	Benton	-	A few trees were blown down.
September 2006	Thunderstorm Wind	Benton	-	A wind gust to 68 MPH was measured by a trained spotter.
August 2006	Heavy Rain	Benton	-	Street flooding was reported.
August 2003	Thunderstorm Wind	Benton	-	A tree fell on a house 4 miles west of Benton. Trees were blown down in Brewer.
May 2003	Tornado (F1)	Benton	-	Numerous trees were uprooted or snapped. Barns and sheds were damaged. Peak winds were estimated near 85 MPH. The damage was along Highway 348.
June 2003	Heavy Rain	Benton	-	A flood-prone area on the east side of Benton became flooded, prompting the evacuations of three residences.
July 2003	Thunderstorm Wind	Benton	-	Eight trees were blown down off Highway 58.
May 2000	Funnel Cloud	Benton	-	A supercell thunderstorm that tracked across Marshall County produced a long-lived rotating wall cloud and occasionally a funnel cloud. A funnel cloud was observed between Benton and Oak Level. The funnel touched down in Calloway County.
March 1999	Funnel Cloud	Benton	-	A short-lived funnel cloud was observed.
July 1997	Thunderstorm Wind	Benton	-	A gust to 60 MPH was reported by DES personnel.

Every storm recorded in Marshall County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Place	Distance	Sheets
Dogtown	2.0 miles	13
Middle Fork (historical)	2.4 miles	12
Hamlet (historical)	2.5 miles	13
Walnut Grove	2.6 miles	13
Pleasant Valley (historical)	3.2 miles	12
Glade	3.3 miles	13
Scale	3.4 miles	13
Briensburg	3.5 miles	13

Elsewhere

Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.

Wikipedia article on Benton	An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2397414	The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0).

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 486888. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.