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Polk County, Florida
Polk County (/poʊk/) is located in the central portion of the U.S. state of Florida. The county population was 725,046 in the 2020 census, and was estimated to be 818,330 in July 2023. Its county seat is Bartow, and its largest city is Lakeland. Polk County comprises the Lakeland–Winter Haven metropolitan statistical area (MSA). This MSA is the 77th-most populous one and the 89th-most populous primary statistical area of the United States as of July 1, 2012.
The center of Florida's population is located in Polk County, near the city of Lake Wales. Polk County is home to one public university, one state college, and four private universities.
The first people to inhabit the area now called Polk County were the Paleoindians who arrived in Florida at least 12,000 years ago, late in the last ice age. With large amounts of water locked up in continental ice caps, the sea level was more than 150 feet (46 m) lower than at present. The Florida peninsula was twice as wide as it is today, and Florida was cooler and much drier, with few, if any, flowing rivers. Both animals and humans were dependent on scattered water holes, such as sinkholes, deep holes in otherwise dry river beds, and rain-fed lakes perched on impervious clay. Most Paleoindian campsites found in Florida have been found at water holes. The largest collection of late, more than 9,500 years ago, Paleoindian microlithic tools known from Florida were found in Lake Weohyakapka, near Nalcrest in Polk County.
As sea levels rose and Florida became warmer and wetter, the Paleoindian period was followed by the Archaic period, which ended 2,500 to 3,000 years ago, with the emergence of recognizable archaeological cultures in Florida. In eastern Polk County, the Kissimmee River valley was occupied by people of the Belle Glade culture, which persisted from about 3,000 years ago until the collapse of the Native American population in Florida after 1700. Native American people in western Polk County were part of, or influenced by, the Manasota culture, which flourished from 2,500 years ago until around 800 AD, when it was replaced by the Safety Harbor culture, from circa 800 until after 1700. The Peace River valley may have hosted a distinct culture during the Safety Harbor period.
In 1539, Hernando de Soto sent a detachment of between 80 and 180 men of his expedition, from his landing place on Tampa Bay across northern Polk County to visit Urriparacoxi, a powerful chief based in southern Lake County or eastern Orange County. For the next 280 years, the Spanish, and, between 1763 and 1783, the British, ruled Florida, but did not venture into the interior of the Florida peninsula south of the Oklawaha River valley, Acuera Province. The indigenous peoples of the Florida peninsula declined in numbers, and the people who became known as the Seminole moved into central Florida.
In 1821, Florida became a U.S. territory as a result of the Adams-Onis Treaty. In 1823, the Treaty of Moultrie Creek created a reservation in central Florida for the Seminoles and other Native Americans in Florida. What is now Polk County was within the boundaries of that reservation. An attempt to remove all Native Americans in Florida to west of the Mississippi River, starting in 1832, led to the Second Seminole War. Most of the fighting in the early years of the war occurred north of Polk County.
By 1837, the Seminoles were being pushed south. Late that year, Colonel Zachary Taylor, as part of a coordinated push against the Seminoles, led a column east from Fort Brooke (today's Tampa) into what is now Polk County, and then south between the Kissimmee and Peace River valleys, culminating in the Battle of Lake Okeechobee. By 1843 the few Seminoles remaining in Florida were confined to an informal reservation in southern Florida.
While Florida gained statehood in 1845, Polk County was created a month after Florida had seceded from the Union. It was formed from the eastern part of Hillsborough County and named in honor of former US President James K. Polk, who had been popular with Southerners for supporting the expansion of slavery and whose 1845 inauguration was on the day after Florida became a state.
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Polk County, Florida
Polk County (/poʊk/) is located in the central portion of the U.S. state of Florida. The county population was 725,046 in the 2020 census, and was estimated to be 818,330 in July 2023. Its county seat is Bartow, and its largest city is Lakeland. Polk County comprises the Lakeland–Winter Haven metropolitan statistical area (MSA). This MSA is the 77th-most populous one and the 89th-most populous primary statistical area of the United States as of July 1, 2012.
The center of Florida's population is located in Polk County, near the city of Lake Wales. Polk County is home to one public university, one state college, and four private universities.
The first people to inhabit the area now called Polk County were the Paleoindians who arrived in Florida at least 12,000 years ago, late in the last ice age. With large amounts of water locked up in continental ice caps, the sea level was more than 150 feet (46 m) lower than at present. The Florida peninsula was twice as wide as it is today, and Florida was cooler and much drier, with few, if any, flowing rivers. Both animals and humans were dependent on scattered water holes, such as sinkholes, deep holes in otherwise dry river beds, and rain-fed lakes perched on impervious clay. Most Paleoindian campsites found in Florida have been found at water holes. The largest collection of late, more than 9,500 years ago, Paleoindian microlithic tools known from Florida were found in Lake Weohyakapka, near Nalcrest in Polk County.
As sea levels rose and Florida became warmer and wetter, the Paleoindian period was followed by the Archaic period, which ended 2,500 to 3,000 years ago, with the emergence of recognizable archaeological cultures in Florida. In eastern Polk County, the Kissimmee River valley was occupied by people of the Belle Glade culture, which persisted from about 3,000 years ago until the collapse of the Native American population in Florida after 1700. Native American people in western Polk County were part of, or influenced by, the Manasota culture, which flourished from 2,500 years ago until around 800 AD, when it was replaced by the Safety Harbor culture, from circa 800 until after 1700. The Peace River valley may have hosted a distinct culture during the Safety Harbor period.
In 1539, Hernando de Soto sent a detachment of between 80 and 180 men of his expedition, from his landing place on Tampa Bay across northern Polk County to visit Urriparacoxi, a powerful chief based in southern Lake County or eastern Orange County. For the next 280 years, the Spanish, and, between 1763 and 1783, the British, ruled Florida, but did not venture into the interior of the Florida peninsula south of the Oklawaha River valley, Acuera Province. The indigenous peoples of the Florida peninsula declined in numbers, and the people who became known as the Seminole moved into central Florida.
In 1821, Florida became a U.S. territory as a result of the Adams-Onis Treaty. In 1823, the Treaty of Moultrie Creek created a reservation in central Florida for the Seminoles and other Native Americans in Florida. What is now Polk County was within the boundaries of that reservation. An attempt to remove all Native Americans in Florida to west of the Mississippi River, starting in 1832, led to the Second Seminole War. Most of the fighting in the early years of the war occurred north of Polk County.
By 1837, the Seminoles were being pushed south. Late that year, Colonel Zachary Taylor, as part of a coordinated push against the Seminoles, led a column east from Fort Brooke (today's Tampa) into what is now Polk County, and then south between the Kissimmee and Peace River valleys, culminating in the Battle of Lake Okeechobee. By 1843 the few Seminoles remaining in Florida were confined to an informal reservation in southern Florida.
While Florida gained statehood in 1845, Polk County was created a month after Florida had seceded from the Union. It was formed from the eastern part of Hillsborough County and named in honor of former US President James K. Polk, who had been popular with Southerners for supporting the expansion of slavery and whose 1845 inauguration was on the day after Florida became a state.