John T. Benson was born in England in 1879. He ran away from home at a young age and joined the circus.

Benson's job was to perform with a wrestling lion when traveling to the US around the 1890's.

In 1911 he helped establish the Franklin Park Zoo.

In 1922 John T. bought a 200 plus acre property known as the Interstate Fruit Farm in Hudson and turned it into a quarantine center for jungle animals entering the US destined for zoos, circuses and private menageries.

After so many people inquired if they could see the exotic animals that were kept on his property Benson decided to open it to the public in 1926 and charged a small fee.

Originally billed as the Strangest Farm on Earth it eventually became known as Benson's Wild Animal Farm and then in later years Benson's Animal Park.

John T. Benson died in 1943. He had been an active figure in the business and civic life of Hudson and was a member of the Nashua Chamber of Commerce for many years.

Bensons was sold to a consortium of 4 investors from Boston in 1944 with links to the Boston Garden, Boston Arena and many other businesses in the Boston area.

In 1947, Vera Lovejoy the secretary for the Boston group was awarded the top position as manager of the park and continued as manager for decades. She added new picnic pavilions for companies and organizations to hold their annual outings and ran the park until retirement.

The new management decided to divest itself of animal trading but the animal acts and training still continued but during the next decades of the 60's and 70's little money was reinvested and the park continued to decline. Benson's second owner, Mr. Raymond Lapham died in 1976 and the Park was managed by Charles Keene as Trustee of Lapham estate for the next three years.

In 1979 Arthur J. Provencher realized his dream by finally purchasing Benson's after negotiating nearly 3 years and became Benson's third owner.

Provencher, a Nashua native, owned an industrial park and truck leasing business in Merrimack. He had his own menagerie of animals in his mini zoo called "My World of Pets" that he put in a section of the industrial park.

Arthur hired consultants, after purchasing Bensons, to aid in completely redesigning and cleaning up the farm. He expanded the attractions in order to create a friendly family park

Graphics were installed outside pens and corrals explaining about the animals. Full time zoologist Pat Quinn was hired to rebuild the collection of animal species and eventually Bensons featured more animals than the Stone and Franklin Park zoos combined.

Daily performances included elephants, seals, exotic birds and horses. Additional circus acts were booked into the park annually.

Each season Provencher poured millions into Benson's with hopes of making it into a major theme park.

The park continued to try different market strategies by adding Terrytoon characters, more rides and attractions to boost attendance. But high interest rates on short term demand loans, wet weather in the height of the tourist season and the inability to reach the necessary attendance figure of 500,000 brought Provencher's longtime dream to an end.

A decision was made to permanently close the park, and on October 23rd and 24th 1987 the contents of the park as well as the 550 animals were sold at auction bringing to an end an era that extended over 62 years. It was a devastating time for all who worked at Bensons. Provencher estimates that over twenty five million people had attended and enjoyed Bensons over the years.

Mr. Provencher is now retired but enjoys fond, although at times sad memories with former employees, family and friends of the park that brought so much happiness to so many employees, friends, children and visitors from throughout the country.