Benton

Formed December 23, 1847 (7^th county)

Benton County (95,153), Corvallis (59,909)

A white brick and wood High Victorian and Italianate building serves Benton County.  It is located on a square at Northwest 4^th Street, Northwest Monroe Avenue, Northwest 5^th Street, and Northwest Jackson Avenue.  United States Highway 20 is Northwest 4^th Street in this part of the town.  This structure was built in 1888 and renovated in 1976.  Delos D. Neer provided the designs for the courthouse.  The county was created on December 23, 1847 from Polk County as the 7^th county.  Benton County is named for Missouri Senator Thomas Hart Benton.  Marysville was the original county seat but renamed to Corvallis in 1851.  Corvallis is Latin for “heart of the valley.”  Benton County is the birthplace of 2 Oregon Governors, Isaac L. Patterson and Barbara K. Roberts. 

Benton County government consists of a treasurer, a sheriff, an attorney, an administrator, and a clerk (executive).  It has 3 Commissioners (legislative.)  Three District Court Judges serve Benton County (judicial.)  The county is in western Oregon.  Portland, Oregon is northeast and Eugene, Oregon is south of the county.  The county center is 3.1 miles West of Corvallis.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Polk, Linn, Lane, and Lincoln counties. 

The area of the county is 676 square miles.  It is 33 out of 36 in the state.  It ranks 11 out of 36 in population in the state.  It has a density of 140.8 persons per square mile making it 6 out of 36 in the state.  Benton County has 79.9% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 20 travels east to west through the county from Linn County to Lincoln County.  The county looks like a block capital letter S.  Corvallis is located on the northeast border of the county.  Corvallis is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 62.9% of the county population.  The county seat is pronounced KOER-VAL-LIS.  This county is in the Corvallis Metropolitan Statistical Area.