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. Aluminum processing, based on local deposits of high-grade bauxite, developed in Benton during World War II, but such processing had ended by 1970. The area's present industries include steel fabrication and the manufacture of ceramics, veneer, asphalt, concrete, and marine parts. Hot Springs National Park and sections of Ouachita National Forest are to the west. Inc. city, 1848. Pop. (1990) 18,177; (1998 est.) 23,121.