Bentonsport, a village on the Des Moines River near Keosauqua, in Van Buren County, Iowa, was recognized in 1972 for being very little changed since its historic heyday as a thriving steamboat port in the mid-1800s. A

historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal protection from c ...

covering 16 original blocks in the historic center of the village was then approved for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. with The district also included waterfront property and the village's historic wagon bridge across the river to the village of Vernon. The village was platted in March, 1836, and was located at the first dam and locks on the Des Moines River authorized by the state in 1839. Soon it had two grist mills and a saw mill. It was named "Benton's Port" for Thomas Hart Benton and once had a population of about 1,000. It declined after the Keokuk, Fort Des Moines and Minnesota Railroad reached

Des Moines Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines, ...

in 1866. The river became non-navigable in 1870 and the dam and locks deteriorated, with the dam "failing" in 1879. The Bentonsport bridge opened in 1883 and is "the oldest wagon bridge of its type remaining on the Des Moines River." Today the village has 40 residents, many of them artists and bed & breakfast keepers. Bentonsport is home to the Lawrence Sullivan Ross Memorial. Erected in 2007, it is Iowa's only Confederate memorial. Its historic district includes: *Cowles House, 1840s *a blacksmith shop, 1840s * I.O.O.F. Hall, 1840s, the oldest and perhaps first Odd Fellows Hall in Iowa *Mason House Inn, 1846 *Sanford House, 1852 *Bentonsport Academy, 1851, perhaps Iowa's oldest high school *Presbyterian Church, 1855 *Methodist Parsonage, 1855 *Methodist Church, 1857 *Herman Greef House, 1863 *Greef Dry Goods Store, 1865 *Bentonsport General Store *historic bridge, 1882–85 The district includes

Federal Federal or foederal (archaic) may refer to: Politics General *Federal monarchy, a federation of monarchies *Federation, or ''Federal state'' (federal system), a type of government characterized by both a central (federal) government and states or ...

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

, and "

Steamboat Gothic Carpenter Gothic, also sometimes called Carpenter's Gothic or Rural Gothic, is a North American architectural style-designation for an application of Gothic Revival architectural detailing and picturesque massing applied to wooden structure ...

" architecture. In 2010, as a promotional term, the area calls itself "Bentonsport National Historic District".

References

External links

Greef General Store, Bentonsport Historic District
Geography of Van Buren County, Iowa Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Iowa Tourist attractions in Van Buren County, Iowa National Register of Historic Places in Van Buren County, Iowa Historic districts in Van Buren County, Iowa {{VanBurenCountyIA-NRHP-stub