A history of Benson,
then and now
Postcards, papers and photographs of Benson from public archives, woven together by decade. Neighbors fill in the gaps.
The story
from WikipediaRead it all ↗Benson was platted in 1870 when the railroad was extended to that point. As the end of the tracks, Benson became a lively trading center. Benson was the market for a 100-mile area in almost all directions.
The city was named for Ben H. Benson, a Norwegian settler. Benson was incorporated as a city in 1908.
The town's early history included many tragedies, such as an 1872 smallpox epidemic, an 1876 grasshopper plague, and a fire in 1880 that wiped out a whole city block.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Timeline
built from the dates on the items belowFinish Benson’s story
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
2 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🔁Retake an old viewHigh School, Benson, Minn, 1908: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Famous people from Benson
See all 8 →
Benson, decade by decade
1990s
Then & now
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as High School, Benson, Minn (1908) and it appears here side by side.
🔁 Retake this view · +15Historic places
National Register · via Wikidata
From Wikimedia Commons (4), the Library of Congress (1) and the National Register (1). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.