Historical Markers and War Memorials in Polk County, Tennessee
Benton is the county seat for Polk County
Adjacent to Polk County, Tennessee
Bradley County(49) ► McMinn County(53) ► Monroe County(40) ► Fannin County, Georgia(5) ► Murray County, Georgia(24) ► Cherokee County, North Carolina(25) ►
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Named in honor of William Hinton “Bear” Lawson who lived in this area from Aug. 10, 1842 to June 17, 1913. His generosity created the historic area now known as Benton Station. — — Map (db m178034) HM
Like most of Appalachian Tennessee, Polk County was a divided land during the Civil War.
Residents formed both Confederate and Federal units. Benton, the county seat, was a regional crossroads, but Ducktown, where the Burra Burra Copper Company . . . — — Map (db m178020) HM
In 1906, the L & N Railroad completed a new line through this community (then called Murny) and constructed a station, which also served Benton. William Hinton "Bear” Lawson's generosity made the station possible. He gave the railroad free access . . . — — Map (db m178037) HM
According to legend, Nancy Ward (Nanye’hi or Na-ni) was born in the 1730s at Chota in the Overhill Towns, at a time when Cherokee society was largely traditional despite the extensive fur trade. As the child of a Cherokee woman, Nancy was by birth a . . . — — Map (db m109274) HM
High priestess of the Cherokee and always loyal friend of white settlers, is buried on the ridge to the west. She repeatedly prevented massacres of white settlers and several times rescued captives from death at the hands of her people. She is also . . . — — Map (db m80167) HM
In 1910 J.G. White Construction Company began work on the Ocoee Dam #1. A coffer dam* was built using large timbers and bows of evergreens. These were laid to help hold back the banks of dirt. Tracks were built on top of the coffer dam allowing dirt . . . — — Map (db m178044) HM
Construction began on Ocoee No. 1 in 1910 and 18 months later it was supplying
electricity to nearby Chattanooga. Designed and built by the Tennessee Electric Power Company (TEPCO), TVA acquired both Ocoee No. 1 and No. 2 in 1939.
Located in a . . . — — Map (db m178038) HM
Once called the “Dynamo of Dixie,” Ocoee No. 1 has dependably and efficiently generated electricity for most of this century. When built in 1912, hydroelectric power in the United States was in its infancy.
Over the years the powerhouse . . . — — Map (db m178040) HM
[East side]
Confederate
States
of
America
1861-1865
Dedicated
to
Polk County
Confederate
Soldiers
To remember is to honor
[South side]
Polk
County
unit
Co. E, . . . — — Map (db m178022) WM
Lest we forget
Dedicated to the
veterans of Polk
County who served
during:
Korea 1950-1955
Vietnam 1964-1975
Persian Gulf 1990-1991
November 11, 1993 — — Map (db m178033) WM
[Center]
Dedicated to the memory of
the men of Polk County, Tenn. who
gave their lives and to all who
served in World Wars I and II
[Left wing]
And these our dead
World War I
Adams, James • Breeden, Bascome • Cate, . . . — — Map (db m178023) WM
In August, 1843, a prospector named Lemmons, in fruitless search of gold along a branch of Potato Creek not far to the northeast, found a substance which turned out, to his disappointment, to be red oxide of copper. He abandoned it and continued his . . . — — Map (db m25330) HM
A reconstructed steam hoist engine boiler chimney, originally constructed ca. 1854, marks the site of the discovery of copper in 1843 by a prospector named Lemmons. In 1847 A. J. Weaver leased and dug at this place 90 casks of ore, hauling them on . . . — — Map (db m49539) HM
Mining in the Copper Basin
In 1843, a prospector, hoping to find gold south of the Coker Creek mine fields, instead located one of America's richest copper reserves. Over the next century, American and foreign companies chartered more . . . — — Map (db m116819) HM
100 yards NW, David McNair, Scotch pioneer who married Delilah Vann, daughter of a Cherokee chief, built a home about 1800 near a grove which was a Cherokee council ground and terminus of the Ocoee-Conasauga portage. He commanded a company in . . . — — Map (db m47675) HM
From the construction of the "Copper Road" from Ducktown to Cleveland in 1853 until the coming of a railroad to Ducktown, this was the midpoint of the two-day wagon haul. Wagoners camped near the inn at the mouth of Greasy Creek. Four-mule teams . . . — — Map (db m107963) HM
