Polk County is a county located in the U.S. in Florida. As of 2000, the population was 483,924. The U.S. Census Bureau 2006 estimates the county population to be 561,606. The county seat is Bartow. Its largest city is Lakeland. The center of population of Florida is located in the city of Lake Wales.
Polk County became Florida's 39th county on February 8, 1861, when the State of Florida divided Hillsborough County into eastern and western halves....
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Polk County is a county located in the U.S. in Florida. As of 2000, the population was 483,924. The U.S. Census Bureau 2006 estimates the county population to be 561,606. The county seat is Bartow. Its largest city is Lakeland. The center of population of Florida is located in the city of Lake Wales.
Polk County became Florida's 39th county on February 8, 1861, when the State of Florida divided Hillsborough County into eastern and western halves. The eastern half was named Polk, in honor of the 11th President of the United States, James Knox Polk. Polk was sworn in as president on the day after Florida's March 3, 1845 statehood.
Following the Civil War, the county commission established the county seat on 120 acres (0.49 km) donated in the central part of the county. Bartow, the county seat, was named after Francis S. Bartow, a confederate Colonel from Georgia who was the first confederate officer to die in battle during the first battle of the Civil War. Colonel Bartow was buried in...
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