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In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, the Osage Indians in Missouri made forays into what is now Benton County for seasonal hunting. But by 1828, both the Osage and Cherokee tribes had ceded their land to the U.S. Government, and Adam Batie settled that year near present-day Maysville on the county's western border. He is recorded as the first legal white resident in the area and Maysville soon became the first settlement.

Founded September 30, 1836, Benton County was formed from Washington County, and is located in the northwest corner of Arkansas on the Ozark plateau. It adjoins Oklahoma to the west and Missouri to the north. The county seat is Bentonville, named in honor of U.S Senator Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri, who was instrumental in helping the Arkansas Territory achieve statehood in 1836.

Many of the early settlers to the area came from Tennessee and other states of the upper South. Among them were the Blackburn and Van Winkle families, as well as the Reddick, Burks, and Sikes families, and the German-born Sagers.

Caught between strongly Confederate sympathizers in southern Arkansas, and Union-supporting Missourians to the north, Benton County was the site of numerous engagements during the Civil War. Bentonville and Fayetteville (Washington County) were the first two U.S. cities destroyed by fire in the war, and much of the county suffered destruction and severe food shortages. In March 1862, the Battle of Pea Ridge, the most strategically decisive battle west of the Mississippi River, shifted the regional balance of power to the Union.

During the 1870's, the county’s population continued to grow. The number of farms almost doubled by 1880, with tobacco a major crop and subsistence farms often supplemented by fruit orchards. In 1901, Benton County led the nation in apple production, producing 2.5 million bushels of apples. The "Arkansas Black Apple" was developed in Benton County, first being produced in 1870.

The County had a bumper crop of five million bushels in 1919; but in 1920, disease combined with inclement weather devastated the apple crops. About 1921, Edith Glover of Cave Springs had financial success growing a flock of broiler chickens, which influenced her father to become the first large-scale broiler producer in the county. By 1924, Benton County led the state in egg production. By 1938, Benton County was the largest broiler-producing county in the nation, fueled by Tyson Foods (based in Springdale) and Peterson Hatchery (based in Decatur).

Following World War II, business boomed. Sam Walton opened a five-and-dime store in Bentonville in 1950 and his first Walmart Inc. store in Rogers in 1962. Daisy Manufacturing moved its entire air gun production operation to Rogers from Michigan in 1958.

Rogers is the largest city in the county and the ninth largest in Arkansas. Major employers include Tyson Foods, St. Mary’s Hospital, Glad Products Company, Rogers Tool Works, and Superior Industries. Agribusiness, chiefly poultry and cattle, also remain important. In 2002, Benton County led the state in production of hay and pasture for livestock.

As of the 2020 U.S. Census, Benton County was the state's second-most populous county and had 284,333 people residing on 847.72 square miles.
[Sources: Encyclopedia of Arkansas, Wikipedia, U.S. Census Bureau.]

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~Pat Asher, County Coordinator and Webmaster.

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