The village of Benton was organized in 1841 on 20 acres (8.1 ha) of property donated by John Ewing and Walter S. Akin.

Much of Benton's growth in the past was due to an abundance of high sulfur coal, multiple railroads that pass through the town, fertile soil, and its industry.

[4] On April 19, 1928, Benton was the site of the next-to-last public hanging in Illinois, when local gangster Charles Birger was executed on the gallows next to the county jail for the December 12, 1926 murder of Joe Adams, mayor of nearby West City.

A replica of the gallows and hangman's noose were built by the late retired Old Ben Coal miner, businessman & carpenter, Birchard L. Wampler [5] (March 9, 1938 – June 29, 2010) and his son Birchard Neil Wampler.

They remain standing today next to the old Franklin County Jail turned Museum.

Harrison also performed with a band called "The Four Vests" at the Veterans of Foreign Wars hall in Eldorado, Illinois.

In an interview, Harrison's sister Louise said "his real first visit to America was when he came to the Midwest in September 1963 and he met these wonderful, warm, friendly, real warm Midwesterners ... school teachers, retired miners and all kinds of just wonderful people... and a little band.

Two members of the KKK spoke negatively of Jews, Blacks, Gays, liberal politicians, and reporters.

[7] In August 2017, a 16-foot-tall (4.9 m) commemorative mural of George Harrison was created and donated by California artist John Cerney.

The project was completed just in time for tourists to admire it as they traveled through the city for the total solar eclipse of 2017.

[8][citation needed] In June 2020, following the murder of George Floyd, a Black Lives Matter protest was held at the Franklin County Courthouse in Benton.

[12] It opened a reading garden behind the building which contains painted chairs made by the local high school and other donated play equipment, including a large handmade wooden ship.

Other newspapers such as The Southern Illinoisan serve Benton and much wider areas surrounding it.

Five connection types are offered: DSL, cable, fixed wireless, satellite, and fiber-optic internet.