POLK COUNTY

Polk was formed in 1855 from Rutherford and Henderson. It was named in honor of Colonel William Polk "who rendered distinguished service in the Battles of Germantown, Brandywine and Eutaw, in all of which he was wounded." It is in the southwestern section of the State and is bounded by the State of South Carolina and Henderson and Rutherford counties. The present land area is 237.85 square miles. The population from the 2010 Census was 20,510. Of that population, 18,633 were white, 918 were black or African American, 72 were American Indian, 68 were Asian, 2 were Pacific Islander and 528 were of a different race. Another 289 were reported to be of two or more races and 1,122 were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

The act directed that the court and records should be kept at the home of J. Mills until a courthouse could be erected. It also named commissioners to obtain a site for public buildings, lay out a town by the name of Columbus, and erect a courthouse. Columbus is the county seat.

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Polk County is in the Broad River Basin. Part of it is technically in the mountain region and part of it is in the Piedmont region. For statistical purposes, however, Polk County is considered a part of the mountain region of the state.

References:

"American Factfinder." 2011. U. S. Census Bureau. Online at http://factfinder2.census.gov/. Accessed 3/3/2011.

Corbitt, David L. 2000. The Formation of the North Carolina Counties, 1663-1943. Sixth printing. Raleigh: State Department of Archives and History.

Powell, William Stevens, and Michael R. Hill. 2010. The North Carolina gazetteer: a dictionary of Tar Heel places and their history. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.

Additional resources:

North Carolina Digital Collections (Government & Heritage Library and NC State Archives)

NC LIVE resources

NC Natural Heritage Program database

WorldCat (Searches numerous library catalogs)