Community Profile

The City of Benham, KY is located in the Eastern Kentucky Mountains. The planners and architects of the International Harvester’s Wisconsin Steel Company (International Harvester) established the community in 1909. International Harvester purchased several thousand acres to create an operations base that would supply coal and timber to their facility in Chicago, IL.

By the beginning of WWI, more than a thousand miners were employed in Benham to meet industry demands. The company designed a central park area, which was to be surrounded by stores, schools, medical facilities, and churches.

In 1961, International Harvester transferred Benham to the people who resided there at the time allowing it to be incorporated as the City of Benham.

Today, the Benham community is located near several area attractions including:

• the Portal 31 Underground Mine Tour,
• Kingdom Come State Park,
• Kentucky Coal Museum,
• Lynch Country Club and
• more than 13 walking, hiking, and bike trails covering over 61 miles, such as the Guest River Gorge Trail and Pennington Gap Greenway.

If you are looking for a place to relax, you can book your stay at the historic Benham Inn. This cozy old schoolhouse can host all of your events from professional conferences, a dinner party, wedding, or retreat.