Benson, Arizona
| City of Benson, Arizona | |
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| Coordinates: 31°57′20″N 110°18′24″W / 31.95556°N 110.30667°WCoordinates: 31°57′20″N 110°18′24″W / 31.95556°N 110.30667°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Arizona |
| County | Cochise |
| Founded | 1880 |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Tony King |
| Area | |
| • Total | 35.7 sq mi (92.5 km2) |
| • Land | 35.7 sq mi (92.5 km2) |
| • Water | 0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2) |
| Elevation | 3,586 ft (1,093 m) |
| Population (2007)[1][2] | |
| • Total | 4,974 |
| • Density | 138.2/sq mi (53.3/km2) |
| Time zone | MST (no daylight saving time) (UTC-7) |
| ZIP code | 85602 |
| Area code | 520 |
| FIPS code | 04-05770 |
| Website | http://www.cityofbenson.com/ |
Benson is a city in Cochise County, Arizona, in the United States, 45 miles east-southeast of Tucson. It was founded as a rail terminal for the area, and still serves as such. According to 2006 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 4,934.[1]
The city was founded in 1880 when the Southern Pacific Railroad came through. It was named after Judge William B. Benson, a friend of Charles Crocker, president of the Southern Pacific Railroad. The Southern Pacific, coming overland from California, chose the Benson site to cross the San Pedro River. Benson then served as a rail junction point to obtain ore and refined metal by wagon, in turn shipping rail freight back to the mines at Tombstone, Fairbank, Contention and Bisbee. For example, the railhead in Benson was about 25 miles from Tombstone, and was the closest rail connection to it until 1882, when a feeder line was laid from Benson to Contention City.
The railhead in Benson was founded about a mile from an older traditional wagon depot, the San Pedro River Station, run since 1871 by William Ohnesorgen. In 1878 he had erected a toll bridge over which mining supplies were transported to the new mining camps such as Fairbank and Tombstone. Two years later this bridge marked the location of the railroad bridge that became the terminal site of Benson.
The city today is perhaps best known as the gateway to Kartchner Caverns State Park.
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[edit] Geography
Benson is located at 31°57′10″N 110°18′24″W / 31.95278°N 110.30667°W (31.95288, -110.30677).[3]
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 35.7 square miles (92 km2), all land.
[edit] Demographics
As of the census[4] of 2000, there were 4,711 people, 2,084 households, and 1,346 families residing in the city. The population density was 131.9 people per square mile (50.9/km²). There were 2,822 housing units at an average density of 79.0 per square mile (30.5/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 89.32% White, 1.29% Native American, 0.72% Black or African American, 0.47% Asian, 0.13% Pacific Islander, 5.69% from other races, and 2.38% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 19.85% of the population.
There were 2,084 households out of which 18.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.5% were married couples living together, 9.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.4% were non-families. 30.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 17.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.22 and the average family size was 2.72.
In the city the population was 19.5% under the age of 18, 6.7% from 18 to 24, 18.0% from 25 to 44, 26.5% from 45 to 64, and 29.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 50 years. For every 100 females there were 95.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.9 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $28,289, and the median income for a family was $36,364. Males had a median income of $34,013 versus $18,964 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,315. About 6.2% of families and 13.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 26.1% of those under age 18 and 9.9% of those age 65 or over.
[edit] Climate
Similar to other desert plains areas of Arizona, Benson receives little rainfall and is relatively hot. Some snow occasionally falls in the winter.
| Climate data for Benson | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °F (°C) | 84 (29) |
90 (32) |
93 (34) |
98 (37) |
105 (41) |
111 (44) |
110 (43) |
107 (42) |
105 (41) |
99 (37) |
90 (32) |
84 (29) |
111 (44) |
| Average high °F (°C) | 63 (17) |
67 (19) |
71 (22) |
79 (26) |
87 (31) |
96 (36) |
95 (35) |
93 (34) |
90 (32) |
81 (27) |
71 (22) |
63 (17) |
80 (27) |
| Average low °F (°C) | 29 (−2) |
32 (0) |
36 (2) |
41 (5) |
49 (9) |
58 (14) |
65 (18) |
64 (18) |
57 (14) |
46 (8) |
33 (1) |
28 (−2) |
45 (7) |
| Record low °F (°C) | 6 (−14) |
10 (−12) |
12 (−11) |
18 (−8) |
26 (−3) |
33 (1) |
37 (3) |
48 (9) |
35 (2) |
20 (−7) |
12 (−11) |
−7 (−22) |
−7 (−22) |
| Precipitation inches (mm) | 1.05 (26.7) |
0.58 (14.7) |
0.53 (13.5) |
0.26 (6.6) |
0.24 (6.1) |
0.51 (13) |
3.49 (88.6) |
3.16 (80.3) |
1.73 (43.9) |
1.34 (34) |
0.50 (12.7) |
0.82 (20.8) |
14.21 (360.9) |
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[edit] Transportation
Benson Airport is located 3 miles north west of the city.
Benson is served by Interstate 10 to the north, which travels directly to downtown Tucson.
It is also served by State Route 80, which has its western terminus at Interstate 10. It heads south east from the city.
Amtrak provides passenger rail service at 105 E. 4th Street; freight railroads serving Benson are the Union Pacific Railroad and the San Pedro and Southwestern Railroad.
[edit] Education
The World University is located in Benson.
[edit] In old west history
The railhead in Benson was used by the Earps in March, 1882 to send the body of Morgan Earp after his assassination in Tombstone, Arizona to the Earp family home in Colton, California. The next day, the same station was used as the terminal to send Virgil Earp and his wife away from Tombstone, on the same route. Accompanying them were five guards: Wyatt Earp, Warren Earp, Doc Holliday and two others. After the murder of Frank Stilwell near the Tucson, Arizona train terminal that evening, Virgil left on the train for California and his five guards used the night-freight train back to Benson before proceded back to Tombstone to start what later become known as the Earp vendetta ride.
[edit] Media references
- This city was one of the filming locations for Paramount's 1994 film Pontiac Moon.
- "Benson, Arizona" is the name of the theme song to the movie Dark Star.
- In a tip of the hat to Dark Star, the Avengers crossover story Operation: Galactic Storm, which is about a war between alien races, commences here.
- "Benton, Arizona" is the fictitious Arizona town that Humphrey Bogart's character, Vincent Parry, transits by bus on his way to Peru through Mexico in the 1947 Bogart & Bacall film Dark Passage. In reality, this would have been "Benson, Arizona".
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Benson, Arizona |
[edit] References
- ^ a b "Annual Estimates of the Population for All Incorporated Places in Arizona" (CSV). 2005 Population Estimates. U.S. Census Bureau, Population Division. June 21, 2006. http://www.census.gov/popest/cities/tables/SUB-EST2005-04-04.csv. Retrieved 2006-11-15.
- ^ "Annual Estimates of the Population for Incorporated Places in Arizona". United States Census Bureau. 2008-07-10. http://www.census.gov/popest/cities/tables/SUB-EST2007-04-04.csv. Retrieved 2008-07-14.
- ^ "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. 2011-02-12. http://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/gazette.html. Retrieved 2011-04-23.
- ^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
[edit] External links
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