TOWNS
The Polk County Courthouse[†] is located at 6239 Highway 411, Benton, TN 37307, Phone: 423-338-4522.
situated in the southeastern corner of Tennessee, was established on November 28, 1839, by an act of the Tennessee General Assembly, formed from parts of Bradley and McMinn counties following the removal of most Cherokee from the region. Named after then-Governor (and future U.S. President) James K. Polk, the county seat, Benton, was chosen on February 4, 1840, and named for U.S. Senator Thomas Hart Benton. The county spans 442 square miles, with 435 square miles of land and 7.7 square miles of water, and is bordered by North Carolina and Georgia. Its terrain is predominantly mountainous, part of the Blue Ridge and Appalachian Mountains, with the Copper Basin in the southeast.
The area was inhabited by the Cherokee and earlier indigenous cultures for thousands of years. The land north of the Hiwassee River was ceded by the Cherokee in the 1819 Calhoun Treaty.
Polk County was one of six East Tennessee counties to support the Confederacy, voting for secession in 1861. Union capture of the copper mines in 1863 was a significant blow to the Confederacy.
† www.grok.com, accessed April, 2025.
HISTORIC SITES