Benton, New Hampshire
Encyclopedia
Benton is a town in Grafton County
, New Hampshire
, United States
. The population was 364 at the 2010 census. Located in the White Mountains
, Benton is largely surrounded by the White Mountain National Forest
. The town is crossed by the Appalachian Trail
.
on January 31, 1764 to Theophilus Fitch and others. It was named Coventry after Coventry
, Connecticut
, hometown to many of the settlers, who arrived shortly after the beginning of the Revolution
. At the suggestion of Governor Isaac Hill
, the name was changed on December 4, 1840 to Benton, in honor of Thomas Hart Benton
, the Missouri
senator who championed American westward expansion
.
With a rough and mountainous terrain
, the town was not suited for agriculture
. But Benton had water power sites and abundant forest
s. By 1859, when the population was 478, there were five sawmill
s producing a large quantity of lumber
. The Boston, Concord & Montreal Railroad ran through the town, which once included the village of Glencliff
.
Atop Mount Moosilauke in 1860 was built The Prospect House, later renamed The Tip Top House, a stone hotel with accommodations for 35 hikers
. A carriage
road was built to the summit in 1870, so the hotel was enlarged in 1872 to accommodate 50 guests. In 1920, the hotel and land were given to Dartmouth College
, but in 1942, The Tip Top House burned.
, the town has a total area of 48.4 square miles (125.4 km²), of which 48.2 sq mi (124.8 km²) is land and 0.2 sq mi (0.517997622 km²) is water, comprising 0.48% of the town. It is drained by the Oliverian Brook
and Wild Ammonoosuc River
. Benton lies almost fully within the Connecticut River
watershed
, although a small part of the southeast corner is in the Merrimack River
watershed. The highest point in town is the summit of Mount Moosilauke, at 4802 feet (1,463.6 m) above sea level
.
Benton is crossed by New Hampshire Route 116
.
of 2000, there were 314 people, 91 households, and 59 families residing in the town. The population density
was 6.5 people per square mile (2.5/km²). There were 155 housing units at an average density of 3.2 per square mile (1.2/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 97.45% White, 0.32% Asian, and 2.23% from two or more races.
There were 91 households out of which 30.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.0% were married couples
living together, 6.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.1% were non-families. 28.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.43 and the average family size was 2.95.
In the town the population was spread out with 18.8% under the age of 18, 4.5% from 18 to 24, 22.3% from 25 to 44, 22.0% from 45 to 64, and 32.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 48 years. For every 100 females there were 78.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 75.9 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $34,167, and the median income for a family was $40,417. Males had a median income of $28,125 versus $22,188 for females. The per capita income
for the town was $13,220. About 3.8% of families and 8.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including none of those under age 18 and 13.0% of those age 65 or over.
Grafton County, New Hampshire
Grafton County is a county located in the U.S. state of New Hampshire. As of the 2010 census, the population was 89,118. Its county seat is North Haverhill, which is a village within the town of Haverhill. Until 1972, the county courthouse and other offices were located in downtown Woodsville, a...
, New Hampshire
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The population was 364 at the 2010 census. Located in the White Mountains
White Mountains (New Hampshire)
The White Mountains are a mountain range covering about a quarter of the state of New Hampshire and a small portion of western Maine in the United States. Part of the Appalachian Mountains, they are considered the most rugged mountains in New England...
, Benton is largely surrounded by the White Mountain National Forest
White Mountain National Forest
The White Mountain National Forest is a federally-managed forest contained within the White Mountains in the northeastern United States. It was established in 1918 as a result of the Weeks Act of 1911; federal acquisition of land had already begun in 1914. It has a total area of...
. The town is crossed by the Appalachian Trail
Appalachian Trail
The Appalachian National Scenic Trail, generally known as the Appalachian Trail or simply the AT, is a marked hiking trail in the eastern United States extending between Springer Mountain in Georgia and Mount Katahdin in Maine. It is approximately long...
.
History
The town was granted by Governor Benning WentworthBenning Wentworth
Benning Wentworth was the colonial governor of New Hampshire from 1741 to 1766.-Biography:The eldest child of the John Wentworth who had been Lieutenant Governor, he was born and died in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Wentworth graduated from Harvard College in 1715...
on January 31, 1764 to Theophilus Fitch and others. It was named Coventry after Coventry
Coventry, Connecticut
Coventry is a town in Tolland County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 11,504 at the 2000 census. The birthplace of Captain Nathan Hale, Coventry is home to the Nathan Hale Homestead, which is now a museum open to the public....
, Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
, hometown to many of the settlers, who arrived shortly after the beginning of the Revolution
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
. At the suggestion of Governor Isaac Hill
Isaac Hill
Isaac Hill was an American publisher, editor, and politician from Concord, New Hampshire. Born in 1789 in West Cambridge, Massachusetts, he represented New Hampshire in the United States Senate and later served as governor...
, the name was changed on December 4, 1840 to Benton, in honor of Thomas Hart Benton
Thomas Hart Benton (senator)
Thomas Hart Benton , nicknamed "Old Bullion", was a U.S. Senator from Missouri and a staunch advocate of westward expansion of the United States. He served in the Senate from 1821 to 1851, becoming the first member of that body to serve five terms...
, the Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
senator who championed American westward expansion
Manifest Destiny
Manifest Destiny was the 19th century American belief that the United States was destined to expand across the continent. It was used by Democrat-Republicans in the 1840s to justify the war with Mexico; the concept was denounced by Whigs, and fell into disuse after the mid-19th century.Advocates of...
.
With a rough and mountainous terrain
Terrain
Terrain, or land relief, is the vertical and horizontal dimension of land surface. When relief is described underwater, the term bathymetry is used...
, the town was not suited for agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
. But Benton had water power sites and abundant forest
Forest
A forest, also referred to as a wood or the woods, is an area with a high density of trees. As with cities, depending where you are in the world, what is considered a forest may vary significantly in size and have various classification according to how and what of the forest is composed...
s. By 1859, when the population was 478, there were five sawmill
Sawmill
A sawmill is a facility where logs are cut into boards.-Sawmill process:A sawmill's basic operation is much like those of hundreds of years ago; a log enters on one end and dimensional lumber exits on the other end....
s producing a large quantity of lumber
Lumber
Lumber or timber is wood in any of its stages from felling through readiness for use as structural material for construction, or wood pulp for paper production....
. The Boston, Concord & Montreal Railroad ran through the town, which once included the village of Glencliff
Glencliff, New Hampshire
Glencliff is a village within the White Mountain National Forest in the town of Warren in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States.The village consists of fewer than one hundred residents and some forty man-made structures, including the Willing Workers Hall, the Glencliff Community Chapel, the...
.
Atop Mount Moosilauke in 1860 was built The Prospect House, later renamed The Tip Top House, a stone hotel with accommodations for 35 hikers
Hiking
Hiking is an outdoor activity which consists of walking in natural environments, often in mountainous or other scenic terrain. People often hike on hiking trails. It is such a popular activity that there are numerous hiking organizations worldwide. The health benefits of different types of hiking...
. A carriage
Carriage
A carriage is a wheeled vehicle for people, usually horse-drawn; litters and sedan chairs are excluded, since they are wheelless vehicles. The carriage is especially designed for private passenger use and for comfort or elegance, though some are also used to transport goods. It may be light,...
road was built to the summit in 1870, so the hotel was enlarged in 1872 to accommodate 50 guests. In 1920, the hotel and land were given to Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College is a private, Ivy League university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. The institution comprises a liberal arts college, Dartmouth Medical School, Thayer School of Engineering, and the Tuck School of Business, as well as 19 graduate programs in the arts and sciences...
, but in 1942, The Tip Top House burned.
Geography
According to the United States Census BureauUnited States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the town has a total area of 48.4 square miles (125.4 km²), of which 48.2 sq mi (124.8 km²) is land and 0.2 sq mi (0.517997622 km²) is water, comprising 0.48% of the town. It is drained by the Oliverian Brook
Oliverian Brook
Oliverian Brook is a 13.1 mile long river in western New Hampshire in the United States. It is a tributary of the Connecticut River, which flows to Long Island Sound....
and Wild Ammonoosuc River
Wild Ammonoosuc River
The Wild Ammonoosuc River is a tributary of the Ammonoosuc River, about long, in northwestern New Hampshire in the United States. Via the Ammonoosuc River, it is part of the watershed of the Connecticut River, which flows to Long Island Sound....
. Benton lies almost fully within the Connecticut River
Connecticut River
The Connecticut River is the largest and longest river in New England, and also an American Heritage River. It flows roughly south, starting from the Fourth Connecticut Lake in New Hampshire. After flowing through the remaining Connecticut Lakes and Lake Francis, it defines the border between the...
watershed
Drainage basin
A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...
, although a small part of the southeast corner is in the Merrimack River
Merrimack River
The Merrimack River is a river in the northeastern United States. It rises at the confluence of the Pemigewasset and Winnipesaukee rivers in Franklin, New Hampshire, flows southward into Massachusetts, and then flows northeast until it empties into the Atlantic Ocean at Newburyport...
watershed. The highest point in town is the summit of Mount Moosilauke, at 4802 feet (1,463.6 m) above sea level
Sea level
Mean sea level is a measure of the average height of the ocean's surface ; used as a standard in reckoning land elevation...
.
Benton is crossed by New Hampshire Route 116
New Hampshire Route 116
New Hampshire Route 116 is a long east–west highway in northern New Hampshire. NH 116 is a scenic rural highway stretching from Haverhill, which lies along the Connecticut River, to Jefferson, in the White Mountains Region....
.
Demographics
As of the censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2000, there were 314 people, 91 households, and 59 families residing in the town. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 6.5 people per square mile (2.5/km²). There were 155 housing units at an average density of 3.2 per square mile (1.2/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 97.45% White, 0.32% Asian, and 2.23% from two or more races.
There were 91 households out of which 30.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.0% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 6.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.1% were non-families. 28.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.43 and the average family size was 2.95.
In the town the population was spread out with 18.8% under the age of 18, 4.5% from 18 to 24, 22.3% from 25 to 44, 22.0% from 45 to 64, and 32.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 48 years. For every 100 females there were 78.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 75.9 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $34,167, and the median income for a family was $40,417. Males had a median income of $28,125 versus $22,188 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the town was $13,220. About 3.8% of families and 8.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including none of those under age 18 and 13.0% of those age 65 or over.