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Polk County


Updated:  June 11, 2004

Polk County was formed in 1839 from
Bradley and McMinn counties.

The county seat is Benton.

There were fires at the Polk County courthouse
in 1895 and 1935.

 

CENSUS RECORDS 

  • Census on microfilm for Polk County:  1840-1880, 1900-1930
  • State-wide census index:  1840-1880
  • State-wide census index on microfilm  (Soundex):  1880,  1900-1930
  • Polk County census records in book form:  1840,  1850,  *1860,  *1870,  *1880,  *1900,  *1910,  *1920

 

SELECTED COUNTY HISTORIES

  • Brief History of Polk County. [Written by Members of the 6th Grade of Benton Elementary School, Year 1934-1935]  (Benton [Tenn.] Elementary School,  1958)
  • Confederate History of Polk County, Tenn., 1860-1866 (Williams, 1923)
  • Fun, Fact, and Philosophy : The Diary of John Coffee Williamson, 1858-1861 (Polk County Historical & Genealogical Society, 1996)
  • *Heritage of Polk County, Tennessee, 1839-1997 (Polk County Historical & Genealogical Society, 1997)
  • History of Polk County, Tennessee (Lillard, 1999)
  • Life and Time of Captain David McNair  (Donnelly,  1997)
  • Old Home Place : Faces and Places in the Mountains of Polk County, Tennessee, Before there was a Cherokee National Forest (Parish, 1994)
  • *Polk County Scrapbook : 150 Years of Memories  [ 2 vols.]  (19??)
  • *Studies in Polk County History  (Polk County History Society,  1965)

Additional county and community histories can be found at the Bibliography of Tennessee Local History Sources:  Polk County.  The items in the bibliography may not all be available at TSLA.

 

PUBLISHED LOCAL RECORDS

  • 1840 Federal Census, Polk County, Tennessee (Snell, 1982)
  • *1880 Census, Polk County, Tennessee (Sistler, 1990)
  • Abstracts of Ocoee District Early Land Records-entries (McClure, 1990)
  • Bradley County, Tennessee, Confederate Pension Applications [includes pension applications for Polk County] (Wiefering & Sherrill, 1990)
  • Cemetery Inscriptions of Polk County, Tennessee (Casada, 1988)
  • Check List of Cemeteries and Graveyard (WPA, 19??)
  • County court minutes, 1840-1843  (WPA, 1936)
  • Court Minutes, 1844-1848 [vol.1 1844-1847; vol. 2 1844-1848] (WPA, 1936-1937)
  • *Higgins Funeral Home Records, 1928-1987, Benton, Tennessee Blankenship, 1993)
  • Historical Listing of Cemeteries of Polk County, Tennessee (Blankenship, 1994)
  • Index to the Ocoee District Early Land Records - entries (McClure, 1990)
  • Polk County 1850 United States Census (Adams & Ledford, 1996)
  • *Polk County 1870 United States Census (Polk County Historical & Genealogical Society, 1998)
  • *Polk County 1920 United States Census (Polk County Historical & Genealogical Society, 1998)
  • *Polk County Tennessee 1860 U.S. Census (Polk County Historical & Genealogical Society, 1998)
  • *Polk County, Tennessee, 1900 U. S. Census (Polk County Historical & Genealogical Society, 2000)
  • *Polk County Tennessee 1910 U.S. Census (Polk County Historical & Genealogical Society, 2000)
  • *Polk County Tennessee Marriage Records, 1894 through 1970 (Poteet-Pitts, 1995)
  • *Polk County Tennessee Marriages : Recorded in Vol. I, II, III, and IV, 1894 Through 1907 (Jones, 1986)
  • *Polk County, Tennessee, Minutes, Ocoee Baptist Church, 1836-74 (WPA, 1938)
  • *Polk County, Tennessee, Vital Statistics, 1914 Through 1925 (Wiefering, 1993)
  • *Polk County, Tennessee, Vital Statistics, 1926 Through 1930 (Wiefering, 1997)
  • *Polk County, Tennessee, Vital Statistics 1931 Through 1935 (Wiefering, 1997)
  • *Polk County, Tennessee, Vital Statistics 1936 Through 1941 (Wiefering, 1999)
  • *Polk County, Tennessee, Vital Statistics 1942 Through 1946 (Wiefering, 1999)
  • *Resting Places : Cemeteries of Polk County, Tennessee (Finnell, 2003)

 

LOCAL RECORDS ON MICROFILM 

An inventory of microfilmed Polk County records is available on our web site.  Individual reels of microfilm may also be purchased.  

Earliest records include:

  • marriages from 1894
  • wills from 1873
  • deed index from 1894
  • chancery court minutes from 1886
  • county court minutes from 1840
  • circuit court minutes from 1866
  • tax books from 1893

 

The following reels are available on interlibrary loan:

  • WPA Records, Polk County  (Record Group #107, Roll 42,  1 reel)    Roll includes County Court Minutes (1840-1853),  County Court Minutes Vol. 1 (1844-1847),  County Court Minutes Vol. 2 (1844-1848),  Ocoee Baptist Church Minutes (1836-1874) and Ocoee Baptist Association Minutes (undated).

 

NEWSPAPERS ON MICROFILM 

Newspapers were published in Benton, Copperhill and Ducktown.  Scattered early issues are available from 1858, and a complete run begins in 1890.  Microfilms are loaned to Tennessee libraries.  Individual reels may also be purchased.  An Inventory of Newspapers on Microfilm at TSLA is available on our web site.

 

SELECTED MANUSCRIPTS MATERIAL

 

*  Indicates this title may be borrowed on Interlibrary Loan.

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