Thomas Polk --- Thomas Polk Park, Charlotte NC
N 35° 13.634 W 080° 50.614
17S E 514234 N 3898253
An engraved tablet at Thomas Polk Park lists the US Revolutionary War military service for Thomas Polk, an early Charlotte settler and important historical figure
Waymark Code: WMX400
Location: North Carolina, United States
Date Posted: 11/23/2017
Views: 1
Thomas Polk Park is located on the southwest corner of Independence Square, at the corner of N Tryon and E Trade Street in downtown Charlotte.
The waymarked historical marker is located on the Liberty Walk inside of the Thomas Polk park. It is incised in a panel around the waterfall. The marker reads as follows:
"THOMAS POLK PARK
Thomas Polk (1732-1792), one of Charlotte’s most prominent citizens in its formative years, was born in Pennsylvania. Like many of his fellow Scotch-Irish, he moved south on the Great Wagon Road, settling in Mecklenburg County about 1753.
A major landowner and skilled promoter, Polk led efforts in 1762 to establish Mecklenburg as a county and often served as its representative in the Assembly. When Charlotte was incorporated in 1768, he became treasurer and the trustee for planning the town. He was instrumental in having Charlotte designated the county seat and helped secure the charter the original Queens College, the first college south of Virginia.
As Colonel of the county militia, Polk convened the meeting that many believe led to the adoption of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence on May 20, 1775, and the Mecklenburg Resolves of May 31, 1775.
In the Third Provincial Congress, he helped formulate a temporary state government. Commissioned Colonel of the 4th North Carolina Continental Regiment, he fought in the battle of Brandywine and braved the hardships of Valley Forge.
During the British occupation in 1780, Cornwallis set up his headquarters in Polk’s house, located diagonally across the street from this park. President Washington was entertained there by Polk on May 28, 1791.
Polk is buried in Old Settler’s Cemetery, located behind First Presbyterian Church, 2 blocks to the northwest. His grandnephew James Knox Polk was the eleventh president of the United States.
Mecklenburg Historical Association, 1993."
Type of Memorial: Monument
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