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 Unlike
most communities' towns or cities in western North Carolina, Columbus
did not grow from its position as a crossroads, its nearness to a body
of water, or a gradual accumulation of residences. It was born
overnight, deliberately carved from 100 acres of pure wilderness on
what was then known as Foster Race path in the shadow of Fosters
Mountain, known today as Chocolate Drop. Seeking to avoid the
squabble that greeted the first effort to find a location from a county
seat in 1847, the state legislature in 1855 in creating Polk County
named three out-of -county men as Commissioners to locate the county
seat at or within two miles of the geographical center of the county.
They chose Fosters Race path, in the shadow of Fosters Mountain. The
Commissioners were authorized to purchase or receive by donations a
tract of land on which to locate a county seat not to exceed 100 acres. Columbus
was divided into 94 lots, with seven lots reserved for public, civic,
and spiritual needs. At the northern end of the perfect rectangular
100-acre parcel was a public square reserved by the Commissioners. The
streets were laid out, some as wide as ninety feet, and an auction was
held on October 17, 1855 to sell the lots designated for public use. A
total of 59 lots were sold, bringing in $16, 499 into the County
coffers for the purpose of erecting public buildings. County
records to do not indicate an official date the County Courthouse was
completed, but the court records indicate the Courthouse was in use by
December 1857. The same structure now listed in the National Register
of Historic Places remains in use as the County Courthouse today. As
the County seat began to take shape from the wilderness, the need for
the incorporation of the Town of Columbus resulted in approval of
legislation by the General Assembly on February 2, 1857 incorporating
the Town. The new Town was given corporate limits of only half a mile
square from the courthouse square - limits that have not been changed
except for voluntary annexations, to this day. Physician,
senator, farmer, are some of the hats worn by Dr. Columbus Mills during
the course of his 74 years, most of them in service to his beloved Polk
County. Mills has been called the father of Polk County for his
untiring efforts to carve the county from Rutherford and Henderson
Counties, the NC legislature in 1855 named the new county seat
Columbus- in his honor.
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