The first public building in Benson was a city hall built in 1892 at Military Road and Spencer Street.

In 1901, it was moved to the intersection of Military Avenue and Wirt Street, where it remained until 1916, when it was sold at auction.

In the mid-to-late 1910s, the city of Omaha began a course of annexations of suburban communities to its north and west.

First, Bensonites feared that the much larger Omaha government would be slow in responding to their desire for such improvements.

In May 1915, popular Omaha architect Everett S. Dodds submitted designs to the Benson City Council, and in the fall of 1915 the Council hired the Rasmussen Construction Company to erect a new combined city hall and fire station.