Benton

Formed December 21, 1837 (9^th county)

Benton County (25,571), Vinton (4,934)

A classic working clock towered Beaux Arts courthouse was constructed of stone and masonry in 1905.  The courthouse is on a square at 3^rd Street, 1^st Avenue, 4^th Street and 2^nd Avenue.  Iowa State Highway 150 turns to the courthouse.  C. E. Bell and M. S. Detweiler provided the building designs.  The grounds feature a Liberty Bell replica, memorials, and a large ear of corn.  The county was cut from Dubuque County on December 21, 1837 as the 9^th county with Vinton as the only county seat.  The county’s namesake is Missouri Senator Thomas Hart Benton.  The county seat is named for Ohio Congressman Plym Vinton. 

Benton County government consists of a sheriff and 3 Supervisors.  Twenty-six District Court Judges and Seventeen Magistrates serve Benton, Iowa, Johnson, Jones, Linn, and Tama counties.  Benton County is in eastern Iowa directly northwest of Cedar Rapids, Iowa.  The county center is 8.1 miles South-Southwest of Vinton.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Buchanan, Linn, Iowa, Tama, and Black Hawk counties. 

The county has an area of 716 square miles.  It is 11 of 99 in the state.  It ranks 25 out of 99 in population in the state.  It has a density of 35.7 persons per square mile making it 34 out of 99 in the state.  Benton County has 65.9% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 380 cuts the northeast corner of the county from Buchanan County, north, to Linn County, east.  United States Highway 30 crosses east to west from Linn County to Tama County.  United States Highway 218 enters from the north, Black Hawk County, and joins United States Highway 30 to exit east, Linn County.  The county is a rectangle with Vinton in the northern quarter of the county.  Vinton is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 19.3% of the county population.  This county is in the Cedar Rapids Metropolitan Statistical Area.