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Benton, Missouri

20 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1934 and the latest in 1987. It stands in Moreland Township. It lies in ZIP code area 63736. It stands on Benton Ridge. The Survey maps it on the Morley quadrangle. 866 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 436 feet above sea level.

Benton within Scott 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 1 record

Population over time

2 figures

Benton grew from 863 to 866 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.

YearPeople Change
2010863
2020866+3 (+0%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

12 surveys from 20 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.

Fires near this place

8 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 8 fires within 5 miles of Benton between 1992 and 2017, burning about 20 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
Debris and open burning4
Missing data/not specified/undetermined2
Recreation and ceremony1
Smoking1

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

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
24 September 2017Recreation and ceremony2.0 acresMissouri Department of Conservationnot named
4 July 2017Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresMissouri Department of Conservationnot named
1 July 1996Debris and open burning10 acresMissouri Department of Conservationnot named
1 July 1996Debris and open burning1.0 acresMissouri Department of Conservationnot named
1 July 1996Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresMissouri Department of Conservationnot named
30 June 1997Smoking1.0 acresMissouri Department of Conservationnot named
8 April 1992Debris and open burning1.0 acresMissouri Department of Conservationnot named
2 December 2017Debris and open burning3.0 acresMissouri Department of Conservationnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Scott County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 15 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 15 workings within 5 miles of Benton: 14 past producers, 1 producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Clay, Silica. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Crm Sand Pit & PlantSilicaProducer
Aba PitClayPast Producer
UnkClayPast Producer
UnkClayPast Producer
UnkClayPast Producer
Benton PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Glasstetler PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
UnkStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
UnkStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
UnkStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer

Every working recorded in Scott County

Storms near this place

29 since 1996

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Benton in 29 storm reports between 1996 and 2025: 11 hail, 8 thunderstorm wind, 5 tornado, 2 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
May 2000HailBenton$500,000Baseball size hail fell in the Benton area.
May 2025Tornado (EF1)Benton$175,000An EF1 tornado, with max winds of 110mph, touched down approximately 2.5 miles south of Benton in northern Scott County. It was on the ground for 1.3 miles before lifting just west of I-55 about 3.5 miles southeast of Benton. Total destruction of a detached garage/barn occurred along Highway 403. Several trees were snapped or uprooted along with a few other farm buildings being damaged. Max width was 100 yards.
February 2006Tornado (F1)Benton$100,000Several structures were damaged. A large shed was levelled. Partial roof damage occurred to another shed and a house. Several large trees were snapped or uprooted. Various objects were impaled into a house and a garage. Most of the damage occurred on Highway E. Peak winds were estimated near 110 MPH.
April 2024Thunderstorm WindBenton$50,000A line of thunderstorms downed multiple trees and power lines in Benton. As the storms continued eastward, trees were uprooted and power lines downed on MO-333 near the quarry and Sand Prairie Conservation Area.
August 2008LightningBenton$50,000Lightning struck the 911 communications center, damaging radio and telephone equipment.
February 2006Thunderstorm WindBenton$50,000Several structures sustained minor to moderate roof damage. At least 50 trees were snapped off or uprooted.
January 1999Tornado (F1)Benton$50,000A brief tornado touchdown occurred, with winds estimated near 80 MPH. A mobile home was overturned, and sheds were unroofed. The damage was mainly on County Highway 333.
May 2000HailBenton$35,000Hail larger than golf balls was reported on Interstate 55 near Benton.
May 2018Thunderstorm WindBenton$6,000Trees were down in Benton, causing power outages. Two miles north of Blodgett, a tree was blown over the road on Highway H near County Road 506.
May 2005Thunderstorm WindBenton$5,000Three large oak trees about three feet in diameter were blown down, damaging the corner of one house.
June 2018Thunderstorm WindBenton$2,000Power lines were down. Power outages were reported.
May 2011Tornado (EF0)Benton$1,000A couple of trees and tree limbs were down along and either side of Interstate 55 at the 80-mile marker. A funnel cloud was reported at this location by a trained spotter. Peak winds were estimated near 70 mph.
April 2008Flash FloodBenton-Water was over Route E near Commerce, Interstate 55 near Benton, Route A near New Hamburg, and U.S. Highway 61 near Benton. Several streets in Chaffee were under water. Due to a washed out bridge, Route W was closed from Route P to Route CC.
February 2007HailBenton-A swath of large hail tracked across northern Scott County. This was the first of two hailstorms that tracked across the county. The second and more severe storm occurred about an hour later.
August 2005Thunderstorm WindBenton-Large trees were down near Benton and Sikeston.
May 2003Tornado (F1)Benton-The tornado began just west of Interstate 55 and moved southeast, ending as it crossed County Road 333. A vehicle was blown around on the interstate, and there was minor damage to homes. Numerous large trees were blown down. Maximum winds were estimated around 90 MPH.
July 2001FloodBenton-Slow-moving thunderstorms produced very heavy rain, causing flooding of Highway 61 and other county roads near Benton.
June 1999FloodBenton-Thunderstorms produced very heavy rainfall, estimated by radar up to 2 inches. Rescue personnel reported up to a foot of water on parts of Highway 61 south of Benton.
August 2023HailBenton-no account filed
May 2021Funnel CloudBenton-no account filed
March 2018HailBenton-no account filed
November 2013HailBenton-no account filed
April 2011HailBenton-no account filed
April 2011HailBenton-no account filed
May 2010HailBenton-no account filed
October 2005HailBenton-no account filed
May 1998HailBenton-no account filed
December 1996Thunderstorm WindBenton-no account filed
October 1996Thunderstorm WindBenton-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Scott 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.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
Lambert0.6 miles20
Poor Farm (historical)1.9 miles20
New Hamburg2.6 miles21
Kenton (historical)2.9 miles20
Bleda4.4 miles19
Morley4.5 miles20
Oran5.0 miles19
Parker6.2 miles19

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 BentonAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q962254The 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 713964. 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.