Polk County is a

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

located in the southeastern corner of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

. As of the 2020 United States census, its population was 17,544. Its

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

is Benton. The county was created on November 28, 1839, from parts of Bradley and McMinn counties, after final removal of most

Cherokee The Cherokee (; , or ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, they were concentrated in their homelands, in towns along river valleys of what is now southwestern ...

from the region that year. The county was named after then-governor (and future president)

James K. Polk James Knox Polk (; November 2, 1795 – June 15, 1849) was the 11th president of the United States, serving from 1845 to 1849. A protégé of Andrew Jackson and a member of the Democratic Party, he was an advocate of Jacksonian democracy and ...

. Polk County is included in the Cleveland, Tennessee Metropolitan Area Statistical Area, which is also included in the Chattanooga–Cleveland–Dalton, TN–GA–AL Combined Statistical Area.

History

Prior to the settlement of the Europeans, Polk County was inhabited by the Cherokee, and before them, thousands of years of indigenous cultures. The portion of Polk County north of the

Hiwassee River The Hiwassee River is a river in the states of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee. It originates from a spring on the north slope of Rocky Mountain (Georgia), Rocky Mountain in Towns County, Georgia, Towns County in n ...

was ceded by the

Cherokee Nation The Cherokee Nation ( or ) is the largest of three list of federally recognized tribes, federally recognized tribes of Cherokees in the United States. It includes people descended from members of the Cherokee Nation (1794–1907), Old Cheroke ...

to the US in the Calhoun Treaty of 1819. The rest of the county was part of the Ocoee District. The Cherokee were forcibly removed from here in 1838-1839 and taken to

Indian Territory Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the Federal government of the United States, United States government for the relocation of Native Americans in the United States, ...

, in a passage that became known as the

Trail of Tears The Trail of Tears was the forced displacement of about 60,000 people of the " Five Civilized Tribes" between 1830 and 1850, and the additional thousands of Native Americans and their black slaves within that were ethnically cleansed by the U ...

. Polk County was created by an act of the

Tennessee General Assembly The Tennessee General Assembly (TNGA) is the state legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is a part-time bicameral legislature consisting of a Tennessee Senate, Senate and a Tennessee House of Representa ...

on November 23, 1839. The location for the county seat of Benton was chosen by an election held on February 4, 1840. Copper was discovered in Ducktown in 1843. By the 1850s, a large mining operation was underway in southeastern Polk County; the area became known as the Copper Basin. This operation continued until 1987, when the last mine closed. During the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

, Polk County was one of only six counties in

East Tennessee East Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions of Tennessee defined in state law. Geographically and socioculturally distinct, it comprises approximately the eastern third of the U.S. state of Tennessee. East Tennessee consists of 33 coun ...

to support the Confederacy, voting in favor of Tennessee's ordinance of secession in June 1861. During the war, the copper mines supplied about 90% of the Confederacy's copper; their capture by Union forces after the Confederate defeat at the Battles for Chattanooga in November 1863 proved a major blow to the Confederacy. On November 29, 1864, a series of raids by Confederate bushwhacker John P. Gatewood in Polk County resulted in at least 16 deaths. The East Tennessee Power Company, later the Tennessee Electric Power Company (TEPCO), constructed two

hydroelectric dam Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...

s on the Ocoee River, Ocoee Dams 1 and 2, which were completed in 1911 and 1913, respectively. TEPCO was later purchased by the

Tennessee Valley Authority The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is a federally owned electric utility corporation in the United States. TVA's service area covers all of Tennessee, portions of Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, and small areas of Georgia, North Carolin ...

(TVA), founded in 1933. It constructed an additional dam on this river, Ocoee Dam No. 3, completed in 1943, as well as the powerhouse for Apalachia Dam on the Hiwassee River in northern Polk County, which was also completed in 1943. In 1973, a large music festival known as the "Midwest Monster Peace Jubilee and Music Festival", commonly known as the "Monster Peace Jubilee", was planned by Indiana-based promoter C.F. Manifest Inc. to take place on a 1,300-acre farm north of Benton on Labor Day of that year. The farm was owned by the county executive. (It has been redeveloped as the Chilhowee Gliderport.) Nicknamed "Polkstock" due to its resemblance to 1969's

Woodstock The Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held from August 15 to 18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. Billed as "a ...

Bethel, New York Bethel is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Sullivan County, New York, United States. The population was estimated at 3,959 in 2020 United States census, 2020. The town received worldwide attention after it served as the locati ...

, the event was expected to attract approximately 500,000 people. Locals strongly opposed it, especially members of the religious communities, who believed the festival would bring much of the perceived rock music culture. The festival was eventually halted by the state circuit court, on the request of the district attorney, who said that the festival would constitute a public nuisance, due to drug, health, and traffic problems. On May 27, 1983, a massive explosion at a secret illegal

fireworks Fireworks are Explosive, low explosive Pyrotechnics, pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. They are most commonly used in fireworks displays (also called a fireworks show or pyrotechnics), combining a large numbe ...

factory killed eleven workers. The operation, located on a bait farm a few miles south of Benton, was unlicensed. It produced M-80 and M-100 fireworks, both illegal, and was the largest illegal fireworks operation in the United States to date. The Ocoee Whitewater Center was the site of the

canoe slalom Canoe slalom (previously known as whitewater slalom) is a competitive sport with the aim to navigate a Spraydeck, decked canoe or kayak through a course of hanging downstream or upstream gates on Whitewater, river rapids in the fastest time pos ...

events for the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

, based in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

. In April 2019, Polk County was the first county in Tennessee to become a "gun sanctuary", or

Second Amendment sanctuary A Second Amendment sanctuary, also known as a gun sanctuary, is a state, county, or locality in the United States that has adopted laws or resolutions to prohibit or impede the enforcement of certain gun control measures which are perceived to ...

Geography

According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...

, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (1.7%) is water. As the most southeastern county in Tennessee, it is the state's only county to share borders with both

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

and

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

. Most of the terrain of Polk County is mountainous, constituting part of the southern

Blue Ridge Mountains The Blue Ridge Mountains are a Physiographic regions of the United States, physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Highlands range. The mountain range is located in the Eastern United States and extends 550 miles southwest from southern ...

, among the southern

Appalachian Mountains The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, are a mountain range in eastern to northeastern North America. The term "Appalachian" refers to several different regions associated with the mountain range, and its surrounding terrain ...

. The western edge of the county is part of the

Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians The Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians, also called the Ridge and Valley Province or the Valley and Ridge Appalachians, are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Highlands division. The physiographic province is divided into three se ...

, which comprise about one-sixth of the county's land area. The Copper Basin is located in the extreme southeastern part of Polk County. Big Frog Mountain, at an elevation of , is the county's highest point; west of Big Frog Mountain there is no higher point until the

Black Hills The Black Hills is an isolated mountain range rising from the Great Plains of North America in western South Dakota and extending into Wyoming, United States. Black Elk Peak, which rises to , is the range's highest summit. The name of the range ...

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state, state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Dakota people, Dakota Sioux ...

or the

Guadalupe Mountains The Guadalupe Mountains () are a mountain range located in West Texas and southeastern New Mexico. The range includes the highest summit in Texas, Guadalupe Peak, , and the "signature peak" of West Texas, El Capitan, both of which are located wi ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. About 80% of the land area of Polk County is now part of the

Cherokee National Forest The Cherokee National Forest is a United States National Forest located in the U.S. states of Tennessee and North Carolina that was created on June 14, 1920. The forest is maintained and managed by the United States Forest Service. It encompas ...

, covering most of the Blue Ridge portion of the county except for the Copper Basin and other small tracts. Most of the Ridge-and-Valley portion of the county is privately owned. The

Ocoee River The Toccoa River and Ocoee River are the names in use for a single river that flows northwestward through the southern Appalachian Mountains of the southeastern United States. It is a tributary of the Hiwassee River, which it joins in Polk Co ...

, site of

whitewater slalom Canoe slalom (previously known as whitewater slalom) is a competitive sport with the aim to navigate a Spraydeck, decked canoe or kayak through a course of hanging downstream or upstream gates on Whitewater, river rapids in the fastest time pos ...

events in the

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

1996 Summer Olympic Games The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

, runs through Polk County and is vital to one of the county's major industries,

whitewater rafting Rafting and whitewater rafting are recreational outdoor activities which use an inflatable raft to navigate a river or other body of water. This is often done on whitewater or different degrees of rough water. Dealing with risk is often a ...

. The calmer

, a tributary of the

Tennessee River The Tennessee River is a long river located in the Southern United States, southeastern United States in the Tennessee Valley. Flowing through the states of Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, it begins at the confluence of Fren ...

which flows through northern Polk County, is also used for

rafting Rafting and whitewater rafting are recreational outdoor activities which use an inflatable raft to navigate a river or other body of water. This is often done on whitewater or different degrees of rough water. Dealing with risk is often a ...

and tubing. The

Conasauga River The Conasauga River is a river that runs through southeast Tennessee and northwest Georgia. The Conasauga River is longU.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 27, 2011 an ...

, the only river in Tennessee that is not part of the

Mississippi River Basin The Mississippi River is the primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, ...

, is located in southwestern Polk County. Most of the population of Polk County lives in the Ridge-and-Valley western portion of the county and the Copper Basin.

Adjacent counties

* Monroe County (northeast) *

Cherokee County, North Carolina Cherokee County is the westernmost county in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It borders Tennessee to its west and Georgia to its south. As of the 2020 census, the population was 28,774. The county seat is Murphy. History This area was occu ...

(east) * Fannin County, Georgia (southeast) *

Murray County, Georgia } Murray County is a County (United States), county in the Northwest Georgia, Northwest region of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 39,973. The county seat is C ...

(southwest) * Bradley County (west) * McMinn County (northwest)

National protected areas

* Big Frog Wilderness (part) *

(part)

State protected areas

*William L. Davenport Refuge * Ducktown Basin Museum and Burra Burra Mine (state historic site) * Fourth Fractional Township Wildlife Management Area * Hiwassee/Ocoee Scenic River State Park

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 17,544 people, 7,383 households, and 5,239 families residing in the county.

2010 census

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2010, there were 16,825 people, 6,653 households, and 4,755 families residing in the county. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was . There were 7,991 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 97.53%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.38% Native American, 0.30%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.14% Asian, 0.02%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, and 1.21% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origins, regardless of race, constituted 1.38% of the population. There were 6,653 households, out of which 26.10% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.60% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 9.00% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.30% were non-families. 25.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.20% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.49 and the average family size was 2.96. In the county, the population was spread out, with 22.14% under the age of 18, 5.0% from 20 to 24, 10.20% from 25 to 34, 21.60% from 35 to 49, 21.70% from 50 to 64, and 17.10% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42.5 years. In 2000, the median income for a household in the county was $29,643, and the median income for a family was $36,370. Males had a median income of $27,703 versus $21,010 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the county was $16,025. About 9.70% of families and 13.00% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 13.80% of those under age 18 and 18.40% of those age 65 or over.

Economy

For most of its history, the mines in the Copper Basin were the largest source of employment in Polk County. As the copper mining industry began to decline, tourism associated with the Ocoee and Hiwassee Rivers began to overtake the copper mines as the largest industry in the county. The first rafting company on the Hiwassee was established in 1969. The shutdown of Ocoee Dam No. 2 to repair the flume line in September 1976 first made possible the rafting of the river's rapids, and several rafting companies were established during this time up until 1983, when the reconstruction was complete. Before the reconstruction project was complete, a struggle ensued between TVA and the rafting companies over usage of the river, which culminated in a 1984 agreement with TVA to schedule periodic releases of water through the dam at certain times of the year to allow for whitewater rafting. This agreement, set to expire in 2019, was renewed in 2017. During the same time, commercial rafting of the Hiwassee also greatly increased. Today, tourism associated with rafting, kayaking, and canoeing the Hiwassee and Ocoee Rivers is the largest sector of Polk County's economy, drawing more than 250,000 people to the area annually. The Ocoee River is now the most rafted river in the United States, with about 250,000 visitors annually, and more than 100,000 people raft the Hiwaseee River each year. Both rivers are ranked as two of the most visited tourist attractions in Tennessee.

Education

Public schools in Polk County are operated by the Polk County Schools district. High Schools include Copper Basin High School and Polk County High School. The district has one middle school, Chilhowee Middle. The district also has three elementary schools, Benton Elementary, South Polk Elementary and Copper Basin Elementary.

Communities

Cities

* Copperhill * Ducktown

Town

* Benton (county seat)

Census-designated places

* Conasauga * Delano (shared with McMinn County) * Farner * Ocoee

Unincorporated Communities

* Ball Play * Belltown * Benton Springs * Benton Station * Harbuck * Oldfort * Parksville * Reliance * Turtletown

Politics

Like East Tennessee, Polk has always leaned Republican, though to a lesser extent than most counties in the region. However, during the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

and

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, this changed drastically, with Polk County giving 92.7% of the vote to

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

in 1944 (it swung hard to the GOP between 1944 and 1948). Today, Polk County is very conservative, giving nearly 80% of its popular vote to Donald Trump in 2016- although it did support

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

(D-AR) twice.

Transportation

Highways

US-64 *

US-74 *

US-411 *

SR-40 *

SR-30 *

SR-68 *

SR-74 *

SR-123 *

SR-163 *

SR-313 *

SR-314 *

SR-315

Air

Polk County is served by Martin Campbell Field, a

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations except for commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services for other ...

airport. The Chilhowee Gliderport is an FAA-licensed gliderport located near Benton.

Notable people

* Stan Beaver, musician. *

Landrum Bolling Landrum Rymer Bolling (November 13, 1913, – January 17, 2018) was an American journalist, diplomat, and a noted pacifist who was a leading expert and activist for peaceful resolution of the Israel-Palestine conflict. He first worked as a war ...

, journalist. * Joel Eaves, basketball coach. * G. Earl Guinn, university president. * Elizabeth Hamer Kegan, librarian. * John E. Hutton, U.S. representative. * J. Chris Newton, politician.

References

External links

Official site

Polk County/Copper Basin Chamber of Commerce

Polk County, TNGenWeb
- free genealogy resources for the county {{Coord, 35.13, -84.52, type:adm2nd_region:US-TN_source:UScensus1990, display=title 1839 establishments in Tennessee Populated places established in 1839 Cleveland metropolitan area, Tennessee Second Amendment sanctuaries in Tennessee East Tennessee