Benton City was founded in 1909 by F. L. Pitman, engineer on the Oregon Washington Railroad and Navigation line. The OWR&N Co. erected freight and passenger depots, and the railway station in Benton City was built about 1910. The station was the brick builidng across from the present vet clinic. Benton City was the early junction point of the Walla Walla, North Yakima line, which was built to help Yakima. An extension of the Sunnyside Canal brought water to much of the land in the area in 1947.