Welcome to Fort Benton ...

The city of Fort Benton is located in Chouteau County<1> and is the County Seat for Chouteau County.

The location of Fort Benton has been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (ie- the GNIS).<2>

While we don't have a date for the founding of Fort Benton, you might get a feel for it by knowing that during our research the earliest mention that we found (so far) was in a book dated 1895.

A typical abbreviation for Fort Benton: Ft. Benton

From the  Census Estimates for 2019, Fort Benton has a population of 1,443 people<3> (see below for details).

Fort Benton is 2,640 feet [805 m] above sea level.<4> In other words, the altitude of Fort Benton is ½ mile above sea level.

Time Zone: Fort Benton lies in the Mountain Time Zone (MST/MDT) and observes daylight saving time

Fort Benton is located in the (406) area code.

Population Details ...

Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Fort Benton had an population of 1,443 people. This is a decrease of 1.43% since the 2010 Census (or a decrease of 9.47% since the 2000 Census).

At the time of the 2010 Census, Fort Benton had a population of 1,464 people (or 25.18% of the total population of Chouteau County). This makes Fort Benton the county's most populous community.

The population of Fort Benton represents 0.15% of the population of Montana (which has 989,415 people), making it the state's 46th most populous community.

With a 2010 count of 1,464 people, the population of Fort Benton decreased 8.16% from the 2000 Census (which had a count of 1,594 people).

More information can be found on the Census Page for Fort Benton.

Communities near Fort Benton ...

We have created a list of 7 communities that are near Fort Benton.

• Loma
  (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loma
  • Loma is located in Chouteau County
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Loma <5>
• Carter
  (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Carter have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carter
  • Carter is located in Chouteau County
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Carter <5>
• Big Sag
  (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Sag
  • Big Sag is located in Chouteau County
• Highwood
  (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highwood
  • Highwood is located in Chouteau County
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Highwood <5>
• Floweree
  (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Floweree
  • Floweree is located in Chouteau County
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Floweree <5>
• Virgelle
  (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Virgelle
  • Virgelle is located in Chouteau County
• Geraldine
  (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Geraldine have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Geraldine
  • Geraldine is located in Chouteau County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 251 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Geraldine <5>

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Fort Benton. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Fort Benton.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Fort Benton. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Fort Benton.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Fort Benton. Our list includes 7 papers. See our Newspapers Page for Fort Benton.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Fort Benton ...

Looking for more information about Fort Benton? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

In addition to the Tourism page for Fort Benton, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Fort Benton.

Adding Fort Benton to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Fort Benton in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Fort Benton was in the book titled Business Atlas and Shippers' Guide (1895).

We also found Fort Benton on a map titled Rand McNally Map of Montana (1925).

For more details, see References and Mentions for Fort Benton.

Off-the-Road Links ...

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Fort Benton. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Chouteau County: www.co.chouteau.mt.us/

The official website for State of Montana: https://mt.gov/