POLK COUNTY

County Seat: Benton
Copper is an important metal; the water that comes into your house is usually carried in copper pipes. Copper was discovered in Polk County in 1843 and within a few years it had become heavily mined. Unfortunately the method of extracting raw copper in those days created a by-product of sulfuric acid, a lot of which was dumped into the ground. By 1900 thousands of acres of Polk County was completely void of vegetation. Today the trees and animals have begun to come back, but the environmental damage remains and is still being cleaned up, especially in the streams that pour into the Ocoee River.

The best place to learn about all this is at the Ducktown Basin Museum. Click here to take our virtual tour of this place.

Today, when people think of Polk County, they are more likely to think about rafting and kayaking than they are copper mining. Both the Ocoee and Hiwassee rivers are ideal for whitewater recreation, especially since TVA controls the water levels of both by use of dams. Therefore, both rivers are frequented by summer users. In fact, the Ocoee River was the site of the 1996 Olympic Canoe and Kayak Slalom Competition.

Polk County was also the home and the final resting place of Nancy Ward, who was often known as the Beloved Woman of the Cherokee. Click here to learn more about her.

Here's the Polk County Courthouse.