Bentonville is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

in central Posey Township, Fayette County,

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

History

Bentonville was

plat In the United States, a plat ( or ) (plan) is a cadastral map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. United States General Land Office surveyors drafted township plats of Public Lands Surveys to show the distance and bea ...

ted in 1838. It was named for Thomas Hart Benton, a senator from Missouri. Bentonville was once a booming "frontier" town during the early days of westward expansion and was a frequent stopping place for traders. Among the local landmarks is Alfred Loder's store (built in 1848 and was one of the first brick structures in the area), which still stands and is a private residence. Other remnants of the past are still visible. Across the corner from Loder's store is a cement watering trough used for watering horses, and south of town in the wooded area next to the site of the former Bentonville Christian Church (which was struck by a tornado in 2018), a one-room schoolhouse, although dilapidated, can be seen from the road.

Location

It lies along County Road 700N northwest of the city of

Connersville Connersville is a city in Fayette County, east central Indiana, United States, east by southeast of Indianapolis. The population was 13,481 at the 2010 census. The city is the county seat of and the largest and only incorporated town in F ...

, the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

of Fayette County. Its elevation is 1,060 feet (323 m), and it is located at (39.7453242, -85.1941317). Although Bentonville is unincorporated, it has a self-serviced

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional ser ...

, with the ZIP code of 47322, an independent Christian church (under reconstruction after 2018 tornado), and a

volunteer fire department A volunteer fire department (VFD) is a fire department of volunteers who perform fire suppression and other related emergency services for a local jurisdiction. Volunteer and retained (on-call) firefighters are expected to be on call to respond ...

. Bentonville's Volunteer Fire Department serves 63 square miles throughout Fayette County, and also responds to emergency calls in Rush and Wayne counties when needed. Their fish fry started in 1971 and is held twice yearly at the firehouse. The fish fry was formerly held at Manlove Park, which is two miles east of Bentonville.

References

Unincorporated communities in Fayette County, Indiana Unincorporated communities in Indiana Populated places established in 1838 1838 establishments in Indiana {{FayetteCountyIN-geo-stub