Polk

Formed February 13, 1855 (85^th county)

Polk County (19,330), Columbus (1,057), Tryon (1,560)

The 1859 red brick Greek Revival structure is on a square surrounded by Courthouse, Ward, Gibson, and Mills streets.  North Carolina 108 is Mills Street in the town.  The building was remodeled in 1920 and 2008.  Ephraim Clayton provided the designs.  The facility features columns and a tower and veteran memorials on the grounds.  An Administrative Building was added in 1988.  The county was founded on February 13, 1855 from parts of Henderson and Rutherford counties as the 85^th county with Columbus as the only county seat.  Polk County is named for Revolutionary War Colonel William Polk.  The county seat is named for North Carolina Legislator Columbus Mills. 

Polk County government consists of a manager, a register, a sheriff, an attorney, and a clerk (executive).  It has 5 Commissioners (legislative.)  Twenty-seven Superior Court Judges serve Polk, Avery, Buncombe, Burke, Caldwell, Catawba, Cherokee, Clay, Cleveland, Gaston, Graham, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Lincoln, Macon, Madison, McDowell, Mecklenburg, Mitchell, Rutherford, Swain, Transylvania, Watauga, and Yancey counties, One District Court Judge serves Polk, Henderson, and Transylvania counties and a court clerk serves Polk County (judicial.)  The county is on the southern border with South Carolina.  Charlotte, North Carolina is east and Asheville, North Carolina is north of the county.  The county center is 4 miles Northeast of Columbus.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Rutherford County and South Carolina and Henderson County. 

The area of the county is 238 square miles.  It is 96 out of 100 in the state.  It ranks 81 out of 100 in population in the state.  It has a density of 81.2 persons per square mile making it 61 out of 100 in the state.  Polk County has 16.8% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 26 travels through the county northwest to south from Henderson County to South Carolina.  United States Highway 74 enters from the east, Rutherford County, and joins Interstate Highway 26 into Henderson County.  United States Highway 176 parallels Interstate Highway 26 from Henderson County to South Carolina.  The county looks like a small mountain.  Columbus is located in the southern third of the county.  Tryon is on the southern border.  Columbus is the county seat and Tryon is the largest city.  Columbus is 5.5% of the county population while Tryon is 8.1% of the county population.