Editing Benton County, Minnesota (section)

==History==
Established in 1849 and organized in 1850, the county is one of the oldest in Minnesota.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Minnesota State Government Series - State Counties |url=http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/hinfo/govseries/No3.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120321232739/http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/hinfo/govseries/No3.htm |archive-date=March 21, 2012 |access-date=March 2, 2007 |website=Minnesota House of Representatives}}</ref> It was named for [[Thomas Hart Benton (politician)|Thomas Hart Benton]], a United States Senator from Missouri.<ref>{{cite book|last=Upham|first=Warren|title=Minnesota Geographic Names: Their Origin and Historic Significance|url=https://archive.org/details/minnesotageogra00uphagoog|year=1920|publisher=Minnesota Historical Society|page=[https://archive.org/details/minnesotageogra00uphagoog/page/n68 49]}}</ref> Its county seat for many years was [[Sauk Rapids, Minnesota|Sauk Rapids]], at the confluence of the [[Sauk River (Minnesota)|Sauk]] and Mississippi Rivers. The county seat moved to [[Watab, Minnesota|Watab]] in 1856 and returned to Sauk Rapids in 1859. Sauk Rapids became the terminus of a railroad line in 1874, but was destroyed by [[1886 St. Cloud–Sauk Rapids tornado outbreak|a tornado]] in 1886. In 1897 the county seat moved to Foley, where it remains. As St. Cloud expanded into a metropolitan area, the southern part of Benton County became a suburb.