Benton County, Mississippi

Benton County
County
The Old Benton County courthouse in Ashland
Location within the U.S. state of Mississippi
Mississippi's location within the U.S.
Coordinates: 34°49′N 89°11′W
Country	United States
State	Mississippi
Founded	1870
Named for	Samuel Benton
Seat	Ashland
Largest town	Hickory Flat
Area
• Total	409 sq mi (1,060 km2)
• Land	407 sq mi (1,050 km2)
• Water	2.0 sq mi (5 km2)  0.5%
Population  (2020)
• Total	7,646
• Density	19/sq mi (7.2/km2)
Time zone	UTC−6 (Central)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional district	1st
Website	bentoncountyms.gov

Benton County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2020 census, the population was 7,646. Its county seat is Ashland.

It is locally believed that residents convinced the post-Civil War Reconstruction government that Benton County was named after U.S. Senator Thomas Hart Benton, but the name actually honored Confederate Brigadier General Samuel Benton of nearby Holly Springs in Marshall County, nephew of the senator.

Benton County is included in the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Geography

Bottomland hardwood swamp near Ashland, Mississippi

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 409 square miles (1,060 km²), of which 407 square miles (1,050 km²) is land and 2.0 square miles (5.2 km²) (0.5%) is water. It is the fifth-smallest county by area in Mississippi.

The headwaters of the Wolf River meander and braid their way north and west across northern Benton County from Baker's Pond, the river's source spring (highest origin of continuous flow) in the Holly Springs National Forest approximately one mile southwest of where U.S. Highway 72 passes into Tippah County, Mississippi. The Wolf River passes into Fayette County, Tennessee between Michigan City (on the Mississippi side) and La Grange, Tennessee.

Major highways

• Interstate 22
• U.S. Route 72
• U.S. Route 78
• Mississippi Highway 2
• Mississippi Highway 4
• Mississippi Highway 5
• Mississippi Highway 7
• Mississippi Highway 178
• Mississippi Highway 370

Adjacent counties

• Hardeman County, Tennessee (northeast)
• Tippah County (east)
• Union County (south)
• Marshall County (west)
• Fayette County, Tennessee (northwest)

National protected area

• Holly Springs National Forest (part)

Demographics

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1880	11,023		—
1890	10,585		−4.0%
1900	10,510		−0.7%
1910	10,245		−2.5%
1920	9,851		−3.8%
1930	9,813		−0.4%
1940	10,429		6.3%
1950	8,793		−15.7%
1960	7,723		−12.2%
1970	7,505		−2.8%
1980	8,153		8.6%
1990	8,046		−1.3%
2000	8,026		−0.2%
2010	8,729		8.8%
2020	7,646		−12.4%
2023 (est.)	7,438		−2.7%
U.S. Decennial Census 1790-1960 1900-1990 1990-2000 2010-2013

2020 census

Benton County Racial Composition

Race	Num.	Perc.
White	4,565	59.7%
Black or African American	2,654	34.71%
Native American	6	0.08%
Asian	1	0.01%
Other/Mixed	275	3.6%
Hispanic or Latino	145	1.9%

As of the 2020 United States Census, there were 7,646 people, 3,149 households, and 2,082 families residing in the county.

2000 census

At the 2000 census, there were 8,026 people, 2,999 households and 2,216 families residing in the county. The population density was 20 per square mile (7.7/km²). There were 3,456 housing units at an average density of 8 per square mile (3.1/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 57.12% White (non-Hispanic), 39.76% Black or African American, 0.59% Native American, 0.05% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.29% from other races, and 0.59% from two or more races. 3.5% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 2,999 households, of which 33.40% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.20% were married couples living together, 14.80% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.10% were non-families. 23.80% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.70% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.64 and the average family size was 3.12.

Age distribution was 26.90% under the age of 18, 10.00% from 18 to 24, 25.80% from 25 to 44, 22.00% from 45 to 64, and 15.30% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 94.60 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.80 males.

The median household income was $24,149, and the median family income was $29,907. Males had a median income of $26,291 versus $19,519 for females. The per capita income for the county was $12,212. About 19.20% of families and 23.20% of the population were below the poverty line, including 28.00% of those under age 18 and 24.80% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

Towns

• Ashland (county seat)
• Hickory Flat
• Snow Lake Shores

Census-designated place

• Lamar

Unincorporated places

• Canaan
• Hopewell
• Michigan City
• Winborn

Extinct town

• Salem

Education

Benton County School District operates public schools.

From 1965 to the late 1980s, Benton County was also home to Gray's Academy, a private segregation school located in Ashland.

Notable people

• Norris C. Williamson, member of the Louisiana State Senate, 1916 to 1932; worked to eradicate the cattle tick pest, born in Benton County in 1874
• Floyd Lee (1933–2020), was a blues musician who was a founding member of Music Under New York, and later a judge on their board. He was born in Lamar.

Politics

United States presidential election results for Benton County, Mississippi

Year	Republican		Democratic		Third party(ies)
	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
2020	2,570	59.92%	1,679	39.15%	40	0.93%
2016	2,251	55.97%	1,719	42.74%	52	1.29%
2012	2,041	49.59%	2,051	49.83%	24	0.58%
2008	2,329	50.22%	2,227	48.02%	82	1.77%
2004	1,969	46.36%	2,245	52.86%	33	0.78%
2000	1,561	44.84%	1,886	54.18%	34	0.98%
1996	993	31.36%	1,944	61.40%	229	7.23%
1992	1,253	31.68%	2,402	60.73%	300	7.59%
1988	1,565	47.30%	1,718	51.92%	26	0.79%
1984	1,737	50.12%	1,715	49.48%	14	0.40%
1980	1,254	36.59%	2,094	61.10%	79	2.31%
1976	790	24.62%	2,375	74.01%	44	1.37%
1972	1,483	66.35%	701	31.36%	51	2.28%
1968	185	6.94%	850	31.89%	1,630	61.16%
1964	934	79.83%	236	20.17%	0	0.00%
1960	175	16.04%	568	52.06%	348	31.90%
1956	108	11.44%	786	83.26%	50	5.30%
1952	216	18.32%	963	81.68%	0	0.00%
1948	11	1.36%	118	14.57%	681	84.07%
1944	42	4.70%	852	95.30%	0	0.00%
1940	24	2.50%	935	97.50%	0	0.00%
1936	10	0.58%	1,717	99.42%	0	0.00%
1932	8	0.97%	814	98.91%	1	0.12%
1928	47	5.60%	793	94.40%	0	0.00%
1924	35	6.04%	541	93.44%	3	0.52%
1920	124	23.18%	405	75.70%	6	1.12%
1916	38	5.03%	718	94.97%	0	0.00%
1912	18	3.33%	489	90.39%	34	6.28%

In presidential elections, Benton County was historically a 'Solid South' county for most of the 20th century, voting Republican only in the Nixon and Reagan landslides of 1972 and 1984, as well as for Goldwater in 1964. It also voted for third-party candidates Strom Thurmond in 1948 and George Wallace in 1968, instead of for the regular Democratic tickets. In the 21st century, it has trended Republican. In 2008, it was one of forty-four counties to switch from John Kerry to John McCain. It was the only one of these forty-four to flip to Obama in 2012, in kind with a scattering of counties in or near the Black Belt, but Trump carried it in 2016 with 56%, the highest vote share the county had given any nominee since 1996. In 2020, Trump improved his vote share in the county by 3.9%, approaching 60% even as he lost nationally.

See also

• Dry counties
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Benton County, Mississippi

Further reading

• DeBerry, Roy; Futorian, Aviva; Klein, Stephen; Lyons, John. 2020. Voices from the Mississippi Hill Country: The Benton County Civil Rights Movement. University Press of Mississippi.