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CITY SNAPSHOT: City of Benson
The city of Benson was founded in July of 1880 along the Southern Pacific Railroad route. In 1881, the Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad ran lines south to
Fairbank and eventually down to the Port of Guaymas, Mexico. Benson was the transportation hub for southern Arizona. In December of 1924, the city finally
incorporated. Today Benson remains the hub intersecting highways 80 and 90 with Interstate 10 and is the gateway to Cochise County and all of its attractions.
Tourism
Benson is known as "the Home of Kartchner Caverns State Park." When amateur cavers Gary Tennon and Randy Tuffs discovered the world class caverns in 1974, they
kept their discovery a secret until the Arizona State Parks system could designate Kartchner Caverns as a State Park in 1988. It was opened to the public in
1999 and has been a major tourist attraction since then.
Benson has nine motels with more than 300 rooms and 16 RV parks with over 1800 spaces, which make Benson a popular place for our winter
visitors. Benson is the choice of many winter visitors because of the proximity to all the great Cochise County tourism destinations within a short drive from
Benson.
Benson also has two 18-hole golf courses: the Turquoise Hills Family Golf Course, which is an executive course, and the San Pedro Municipal Golf Course,
which is a championship course with bent green grass.
Events
Benson has several events during the year. The Bluegrass in the Park has been the last week in April every year and draws a crowd of several thousand from all
over the United States and Canada. The bluegrass groups are all professional, well-known groups. Next is our Benson Hometown Fourth of July Celebration. We start
off with a great Parade and then we go over to our park for a Fire Department water fight. We have entertainment and vendors all day long and finish off with a
spectacular fireworks show. The second week in October is the Butterfield Overland Stage Days, a celebration of the Butterfield Overland mail which ran through
what is now Benson in 1858 and 1859. It also has a parade and entertainment. It features a Pony Express mail run where you can mail a letter and an actual US
Postal mail rider takes your letter on horseback from Benson to Dragoon, AZ. The last event on the calendar is Christmas on Main Street with merchants set up
all along Fourth Street to have entertainment as well as a visit from Santa Claus.
Community
The population of Benson is 5,264 and has that small-town feel that people really like. We are a bedroom community with a mixture of retired people and people
that live and work in Benson. Some residents work in other communities such as Tucson or Sierra Vista. Benson has several new home subdivisions that are still
building and selling new houses within the city limits. The housing market decline did not affect Benson as much as some of the larger communities in
Arizona.
Benson has a Super Walmart and Safeway as well as many other successful retail business. A brand new O'Reilly Auto Parts store was just completed and will open
in January 2012.
Benson has a great school system consisting of elementary, middle and high schools that are all highly rated as well. The Cochise College Benson Campus offers
the local community the ability to further their education and transfer credits to four-year colleges.
For more information on the city of Benson, go to www.cityofbenson.com
For a list of accommodations, events and restaurants, go to www.bensonvisitorcenter.com |
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League of Arizona Cities and Towns
1820 W. Washington St.
Phoenix, AZ 85007
Phone: 602-258-5786
Fax: 602-253-3874
http://www.azleague.org
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