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North Carolina Counties

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North Carolina Counties

North Carolina is divided into 100 counties. North Carolina ranks 28th in size by area, but has the seventh most counties in the country.

Polk County, North Carolina

Polk County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education

County Seat: Columbus
Year Organized: 1855
Square Miles: 238

Court House:

PO Box 308
County Courthouse
Columbus, NC 28722-0308

Etymology - Origin of County Name

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."

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

County History

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 and the 2000 population was 18,324. 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.

Neighboring Counties:

State of South Carolina
Henderson
Rutherford

Cities and Towns:

- Columbus (County Seat)	town	Incorporated Area
- Saluda	city	Incorporated Area
- Tryon	town	Incorporated Area

County Resources:

Enter County Resources and Information Here

County Resources

The history of our nation was a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names given the counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the "characteristic features of this country!"

But age, size and colorful names of our counties isn't the only reason to explore counties' role in American history, or the history of county government itself. In fact, the story of county government reflects the larger meanings of American history.

Today's counties are the most flexible, locally responsive and creative governments in the US. They are the most diverse, varying in size, population, geography, and governmental structure. In their politics and policies, they express a 1990's political slogan "Think globally, act locally."