Bennview

La Salle is on Farm Road 616 and the St. Louis, Brownsville and Mexico Railway in southwestern Jackson County. In 1875 J. M. Bennett, with brothers Sol and Ike West, founded a ranch on a large spread purchased from John N. Keeran of Victoria and introduced blooded Hereford and Brahman cattle to the area. They shipped their animals from Inez, Victoria County, until 1909, when the Missouri Pacific Railroad passed through their property. The three associates named the station Benwest, after the surnames of the owners. In 1922 the name was changed to Bennview when the West brothers withdrew from the partnership. In 1924 local boosters surveyed a townsite, and Bennett promoted a land sale that attracted a number of Poles and Czechs. Bennview had a post office from 1928 until after 1930. In 1937 the citizens changed the name to La Salle (apparently after the Sieur de La Salle) and established a post office, a general store, and a rural school that enrolled five pupils. The population of the community grew from sixty in 1941 to 103 in 1971. Thereafter, however, a period of decline ensued, and by 1988 the number of inhabitants had dwindled to seventy-five. In 1990 the population was still seventy-five. The population grew to 103 in 2000.