Historic Sites in Polk County

The history of Polk County

Polk County was created in 1851 from parts of Floyd and Paulding counties and named for President James K. Polk. The land had been Muscogee (Creek) territory before it passed to the Cherokee Nation. After gold was discovered in north Georgia in 1829, the state surveyed the region into forty-acre gold lots and gave them away by lottery in 1832. During the Cherokee removal of 1838 and 1839, Fort Cedar Town was built near present-day Cedartown to confine Cherokee people before they were forced west on the Trail of Tears. Cedartown became the seat of the new county and was incorporated in 1854, while Van Wert, formerly the seat of Paulding County, now fell within Polk's boundaries. Late in the Civil War, Union cavalry burned much of Cedartown. The county's recovery came with the railroad in the 1870s, which opened the way for industries built on slate, brick, clay, limestone and timber. Welsh quarriers were among the early settlers, and Rockmart, first called Rock Market and incorporated in 1872, became known for slate mining. Big Spring Park in Cedartown and the Silver Comet Trail, which crosses the county toward Alabama, draw visitors today. Notable figures connected to the county include blues singer Ida Cox, actor Sterling Holloway and Lulu Hurst, the Georgia Wonder.

Sources: georgiaencyclopedia.orggeorgiahistory.comsites.rootsweb.com