Local events in Benton Ridge
Nothing is posted for Benton Ridge itself yet; here is what is on within 20 miles. All local events in Benton Ridge
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Checked October 20; the events page is refreshed daily.
How Benton Ridge began
Benton Ridge began as Benton, laid out by William Mires in November 1835 in southeastern Blanchard Township and named for U.S. Senator Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri. A post office opened in 1837 and the village incorporated in 1875, reaching a peak population of 359 in 1900. On November 1, 1941, a B-25 bomber on a training flight out of Wright-Patterson crashed nearby, just over a month before Pearl Harbor. The Benton Ridge Telephone Company, founded in 1902, grew over the twentieth century into a cable-television and fiber-internet provider before its 2022 acquisition by Cequel III. Today Benton Ridge is a village of roughly 270 residents in western Hancock County.
Platted November 1835, by William Mires, as Benton, incorporated 1875, by William Mires.
Where the name comes from
The village was originally named Benton, 'in honor of the sturdy old Missouri Senator, Thomas H. Benton,' according to the 1881 county history; it later became known as Benton Ridge, likely to distinguish it from other Ohio places named Benton.
Before the town
No named Native village, mound, or treaty reserve specific to the site of Benton Ridge was found in the sources checked. The broader Blanchard Township chapter of the 1881 county history states plainly that the surrounding country 'on account of the abundance of fish and game, was one of the resorts of the Indians on their hunting expeditions,' but names no specific location within the township. No source found narrows it to the village site itself.
Timeline
- — William Mires lays out the village of Benton in southeastern Blanchard Township, naming it for Senator Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri.
- — A post office opens at Benton.
- — Benton (later Benton Ridge) incorporates as a village.
- — The village's population peaks at 359 residents.
- — The Benton Ridge Telephone Company is founded.
- — A B-25 bomber on a training mission out of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base crashes near Benton Ridge, roughly five weeks before the attack on Pearl Harbor.
- — The Benton Ridge Telephone Company launches a cable-television service, WATCH.
- — Benton Ridge postmaster Fairy Parkins is named Ohio's Postmaster of the Year.
- — The Benton Ridge Telephone Company launches a fiber-internet service, CFS.
- — The Benton Ridge Telephone Company's operations are acquired by Cequel III.
Stories
A bomber down before Pearl Harbor
On November 1, 1941, just over a month before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor pulled the United States into the Second World War, a B-25 Mitchell bomber on a routine training flight out of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base went down near Benton Ridge. The village's own account of the crash is brief, but it stands as a reminder that the machinery of American war-readiness was already turning, and already claiming lives in accidents, before the war itself formally reached American shores. It is one of the few dramatic single events recorded in Benton Ridge's otherwise steady, farm-town history.
A local phone company that kept reinventing itself
The Benton Ridge Telephone Company was founded in 1902 to string wire to a village of a few hundred people, the kind of local utility that dozens of small Ohio towns started around the same years. What sets it apart is how long it kept adapting: in 1992 it launched its own cable-television service, WATCH, decades before most rural telephone cooperatives touched video, and in 2010 it added a fiber-optic internet service, CFS, putting a village of under three hundred people on some of the same broadband infrastructure as much larger cities. The company's independent run ended in 2022, when Cequel III acquired its operations -- a consolidation typical of the industry, but one that closed out 120 years of local ownership.
Photographs
Photo: Nyttend, Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Nyttend, Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Local history sources: en.wikipedia.org · ohiogenealogyexpress.com · commons.wikimedia.org · commons.wikimedia.org
Water
No water-system data is linked to Benton Ridge's ZIP codes yet.
Hospitals, fire stations and more
Inside Benton Ridge's boundary: 1 fire or EMS station and 1 spill case. Press a pin or a name for its whole record and its source.
Fire and EMS stations (1)
-
Blanchard Township Fire DepartmentBenton Ridge
- Address
- 102 Coleman Road, Benton Ridge, OH 45816
- Coordinates
- 41.00593, -83.79871
USGS National Map structures (source) ↗ Street map and directions ↗
Source: USGS National Map structures (most Ohio records last updated 2019 to 2022), checked against the Columbus and Cleveland station lists. The department that answers a call is set by jurisdiction and mutual aid, not by distance.
Spills reported since 2021 (1)
-
Herbicide(S) Nos (Not Specified)2021-11-10 · Benton Ridge
- Reported
- 2021-11-10
- What spilled
- Herbicide(S) Nos (Not Specified)
- Where
- Benton Ridge, Hancock County
- Ohio EPA district office
- NWDO
- Ohio EPA case number
- 2111EPA0001720
Ohio EPA spill reports (source) ↗ Street map and directions ↗
Source: Ohio EPA emergency response spill reports, 2021 to September 2026, one point per case where Ohio EPA placed it. A report is what the caller or responder recorded; amounts are often blank or estimated.
Its ZIP codes
Each ZIP code that touches Benton Ridge, with the share of its residents who live here and the same headline figures as the ZIP page.
| ZIP | Share | Water | Radon | Home value | Schools | Flood |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 45816 Benton Ridge | 100% | Mostly private wells | Too few radon tests | Parcel list only | Liberty-Benton Local · 4.5 stars overall | 0.0% of residents in the 1% floodplain |
Local government
Who holds office in Benton Ridge, how its elections and ballot issues came out, and the state auditor's record.
Who holds office
| Office | Name | Party | Term ends | Contact |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mayor | Joe Kennedy | 419-348-4262 |
Roster as of 2026 edition (Directory of Officials): county board of elections.
Elections for office
| Date | Office | Candidates and votes |
|---|---|---|
| 2025-11-04 | Council | Chanda M. Peavler 24, 42.11%; Arthur Shank 30, 52.63% |
| 2023-11-07 | Public Affairs Board | Karen S. Crawford 87, 100.0% |
| 2023-11-07 | Mayor | Joe A. Kennedy 64, 53.78%; Richard S. Wells 55, 46.22% |
| 2023-11-07 | Council | Kevin Schoonover 94, 100.0% |
| 2021-11-02 | Council | Robert J. Crawford 42, 62.69%; Barbara J. Sharrer 25, 37.31% |
| 2019-11-05 | Council | Eric Bond 34, 48.57%; Kevin Schoonover 36, 51.43% |
Winners in bold. Results from the county board of elections' official canvass unless marked.
Auditor of State record
- No fiscal caution, watch or emergency on the Auditor of State's lists.
- Basic Audit, 2023 to 2024, released 2025-09-18
The county
Hancock County: 12 ZIP codes, 26 cities, villages and townships, 68,477 people.
Nearby places
No nearby place shares a ZIP code with Benton Ridge in the atlas yet.
Rain and snow
How much has actually fallen on Benton Ridge, day by day, from 1893 to now. Daily totals, not averages.
- rain, last 30 days
- 0.85 in
- 2026-09-29 to 2026-10-28
- rain so far in 2026
- 31.9 in
- about normal for the date
- snow so far in 2026
- 11.7 in
- a normal year brings 25.9 in
- a normal year
- 36.9 in
- average of 30 years, 1991-2020
| Month | Rain (in) | Snow (in) | Days counted |
|---|---|---|---|
| October 2026 | 0.85 | — | 28 |
| September 2026 | 3.90 | — | 30 |
| August 2026 | 4.51 | — | 31 |
| July 2026 | 3.35 | — | 31 |
| June 2026 | 3.57 | — | 30 |
| May 2026 | 4.15 | — | 31 |
| April 2026 | 5.79 | — | 30 |
| March 2026 | 4.15 | 0.5 | 31 |
| February 2026 | 0.43 | 2.8 | 28 |
| January 2026 | 1.13 | 8.4 | 31 |
| December 2025 | 1.73 | 7.7 | 31 |
| November 2025 | 1.22 | 2.8 | 30 |
| Wettest year | 2011 — 50.6 in |
|---|---|
| Driest year | 1934 — 23.9 in |
| Snowiest year | 1895 — 76.3 in |
| Wettest day on record | 21 August 2007 — 4.16 in |
| Heaviest snowfall in a day | 12 January 1895 — 19.21 in |
| Deepest snow on the ground | 2 March 1912 — 20.01 in |
Estimated, not measured. No rain gauge has ever stood inside Benton Ridge, so every figure here is worked out from the gauges around it - the nearest ones weighted most. Treat them as close estimates rather than readings.
48,878 days of records, 1893-01-01 to 2026-10-28. Source: NOAA NCEI GHCN-Daily, 3,240 gauges in and around Ohio. A day is "gauged" when a gauge standing inside the boundary reported it, and the value is the mean of those gauges. Otherwise it is interpolated by inverse distance from every gauge reporting within 50 miles. Nothing is carried forward, back-filled or smoothed. Against NOAA nClimDiv county monthly precipitation over 136,848 complete county-months (checked 2026-10-31): correlation 0.9515, median absolute difference 0.217 in a month. Built 2026-10-31 from the Cracked Buckeye precipitation archive. Snow is the softer number — snowfall is measured by hand with a ruler, no agency publishes a gridded county snowfall series, and blowing snow defeats every observer.
Quick answers
What county is Benton Ridge, Ohio in?
Benton Ridge is a village in Hancock County, Ohio, with 272 residents.
When was Benton Ridge, Ohio founded?
Benton Ridge was laid out November 1835, by William Mires, as Benton; incorporated 1875. Founders on record: William Mires. Source
How did Benton Ridge, Ohio get its name?
The village was originally named Benton, 'in honor of the sturdy old Missouri Senator, Thomas H. Source
What ZIP code is Benton Ridge, Ohio?
Most of Benton Ridge is in ZIP code 45816.
Where does Benton Ridge, Ohio get its water?
The main water source for Benton Ridge: Mostly private wells.
Cite this page
Cite this page as:
Cracked Buckeye, "Benton Ridge, Hancock County", https://crackedbuckeye.com/place/benton-ridge/, built 2026-10-31, accessed [date].
How to cite · Report a correction · Built 2026-10-31
