Benton County, Minnesota

Benton County, Minnesota

Benton County, Minnesota – originally covered with a forest of white oak trees, but now primarily agricultural – is located due north of the Twin Cities Metro area.

Benton County, established in 1849 as one of the nine original counties of the Minnesota Territory, is bordered:

• on the north by Morrison County,
• on the west by Stearns County,
• on the south by Sherburne County,and
• on the east by Mille Lacs County.

Minnesota State Highway 95, and Minnesota State Highway 23, are the primary east-west transportation routes.

Minnesota Highway 25, and U.S. Highway 10, are the primary north-south transportation routes.

Benton County was named after a U.S. Senator from the State of Missouri – Thomas Hart Benton – who was a driving force behind the first Homestead Act, which encouraged settlement in the western territories by providing free land to anyone willing to engage in farming operations.

Benton County, Minnesota Courthouse

Benton County has a Courthouse and Government center located at 615 Highway 23, Foley, MN 56329.

Benton County, Population

Benton County, Minnesota had a population of 38,671, as of the 2010 Census, an increase of 0.6% over the 2000 Census population of 38,451.

Benton County, Primary Cities

Foley, incorporated in 1900, is the county seat for Benton County Minnesota, and had a population of 2,603 as of the 2010 Census.

Other cities in Benton County, Minnesota include Sauk Rapids, Rice, and parts of Royalton, Sartell, and St. Cloud.