Benton
Arkansas, United States
Benton, city, seat (1835) of Saline county, central Arkansas, U.S. It lies along the Saline River, 25 miles (40 km) southwest of Little Rock. The site, on the old Military Road (a main Missouri-Texas route), was settled about 1815 and originally called Saline. The community was later renamed in honour of Missouri statesman Thomas Hart Benton. Salt mining and pottery making were early occupations, and by 1900 lumbermen were logging pine, oak, and gum trees....