 benton county is a county located in the willamette valley region of the u.s. state of oregon. as of the 2010 census, the population was 85,579. its county seat is corvallis. the county was named after thomas hart benton, a u.s. senator who advocated u.s. control over the oregon country. benton county is designated as the corvallis metropolitan statistical area, a designation it first received in 1999. ==history== benton county was created from polk county by an act of the provisional government of oregon in 1847. the county was created out of an area originally inhabited by the klickitat, who rented it from the kalapuyas for use as hunting grounds. all indian claims to land within benton county were ceded in the treaty of dayton in 1855. at that time, the boundaries began at the intersection of polk county and the willamette river, extended south as far as the california border and as far west as the pacific ocean. later, portions of benton county were taken to form coos, curry, douglas, jackson, josephine, lane and lincoln counties, leaving benton county in its present form. the city of marysville, later renamed corvallis, was made the county seat in 1851. in 1862 corvallis became the site of the oregon state agricultural college, known today as oregon state university. ==geography== according to the u.s. census bureau, the county has a total area of {{co
1847_establishments_in_Oregon Benton_County,_Oregon Oregon_counties