A History of Polkville
By Burnette B. Norris c. 1990
Polkville is located in upper Cleveland County, #8 Township, North Carolina, and dates to 1791. The community was named Polkville in honor of James k. Polk, a native of North Carolina, who served as President of the United States from 1844 to 1848, The name was changed to Johnson, also a native of North Carolina, who became President when Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, but four years later, on January 31, 1879, the name was changed back to Polkville.
The Polkville community was not incorporated until 1971, and the first mayor was Richard (Dickie) Whisnant. The current mayor is Jack Shytle. The population was about 200 in the early 1900’s, and its present population is approximately 1500.
Before Polkville was established as a settlement, it is believed Indians settled along the running waters of Grassy Branch and surrounding territory. Indian peace pipes and arrow flints have been found in the area
In a picturesque setting, the South Mountains looming in the near distance. Polkville is amidst a fertile farmland, rich in history. Some of the farms ere land grants from the King of England and have been passed down from one generation to another. During the Revolutionary War, those loyal to the Crown and those supporting the Rebel cause were about equally divided.
During the Civil War, a watch tower was located on the Ed Champion hill east of Polkville and served as a point to observe advancing Yankee soldiers. Near the heart of Polkville, at the old Nixon Whisnant homestead, slaves were auctioned, and it also was a mustering point for Confederate soldiers. A number of local residents served in the War between the States, among them being James Carson Elliott, who later wrote A Southern Soldier Boy – A Thousand Shots For The Confereracy, which gives a detailed account of the battles in which he and a number of local men participated. While large plantations, using many slaves, were not prevalent in the vicinity of Polkville, those soldiers who rallied to the cause of the Confederacy considered the right of self-determination an important factor in their fight with the Yankees.
Early Settlers carved cart and wagon paths out of a wooded wilderness with axes as their main tools. Stagecoach roads were later built, and about 1875, buggies, a more comfortable mode of travel began. The main east-west route in Cleveland County was from Lincolnton through Fallston-Lawndale-Polkville, and on to Rutherfordton in the adjoining county. Frank Lee ran a blacksmith shop around the turn of the twentieth century at the old Lee homestead on the corner of the Polkville crossroads of now SR 182 and SR 226 a lifeline to travelers of that day.
Post Offices were important links to other communities, towns, and the outside world. The Postmasters were leading citizens of the community, and they operated the Post Offices from their homes, often in connection with a small store or other business, E.G. M.M Mauney operated a Post Office at Camp Call along with a store. Squire James A Beam, who also was a Justice of The Peace, had a Post Office called Ola which served the Polkville/New House area until 1906. Joseph C. Lattimore was appointed Postmaster of the first Post Office called Polkville on September 16, 1847, and served until Mrs. Elizabeth D. Cabaniss was appointed on January 22, 1866, Joseph W. Powell was appointed Postmaster of the Grassy Branch Post Office on May 5, 1873, Thomas G. Philbeck, July 8, 1893; Benjamin F. Jones, October 18, 1899; John C, Bridges July 8 1893; and Asbury Jones, October 1, 1901. With the advent of better roads small Post Offices throughout the country were closed and rural delivery supplanted these home-based Post Offices. Some of the residents are still served by rural delivery. In 1939 the Polkville Post Office was again opened for service in the home of Mrs. Madge Lutz, and in November 1966, a new building now serving the Polkville area was built. Mrs. Lutz retired July 14, 1978, Sam Ballard was Postmaster until July 1980, at which time Mrs. Jane L. Brady was named Officer in Charge, then appointed Postmaster September 20, 1980, and is still serving in that capacity.
Early merchants in the Polkville area were A.B.C. DePriest, who owned and operated a store and a cotton gin across the road. The latter in partnership with his brother, Billy DePriest. Tom Philbeck replaced A.B.C. DePriest as store owner. Merchandize was hauled by horse-drawn wagons from the local railroad stations of Lawndale, Lattimore and sometimes Shelby to Polkville merchants. On June 20, 1925, the Stamey Brothers, who also had a store in Fallston, purchased the Polkville store. For almost half a century the Stamey Store in Polkville supplied its customers with everything needed from the cradle to the grave even selling coffins. The Stamey Brothers Store closed in Polkville in 1973 and became Blanton’s Store. In December 1979, the store was sold to Walter Bingham Hardware and Plumbing Co., and now houses the most complete line of hardware merchandise in Cleveland County. In January 1930 Horace Covington opened a general store across the road near Stamey’s and operated there until 1959, at which time Albert Grigg bought the property and continued the store until 1979, when Sherrill Watts rented the store. Watts now has his own building and operates a filling station, store and restaurant on SR 226 and Covington Drive. Jerry’s Mini Mart, also offering gas, groceries, and complete restaurant service. Operates at SR 226 and SR 182. Petroleum World, Inc. is also located at that crossroads. Hawkins Florist has served the area for several decades, owned and operated until recently by Gordon Hawkins.
Dr. V.J. Palmer practiced medicine during the 1870’s and 1880’s. He charged $5.00 for the delivery of a baby, and operations were performed on tables in private residences. Dr. G.M. Gold came from Lawndale to Polkville in 1905 and later practiced medicine in the area with Dr. Tom Gold.
Polkville Methodist Church was built in 1894, a wooden building which burned on Christmas Eve in 1920. It was replaced by a brick building and later replace by a rock building in 1952, now standing.
Polkville Baptist Church was established on July 28, 1940, with a date of August 11, 1940 for charter members. The first service in the sanctuary was in August 1942. Later a Parsonage and Family Life Center were added. Elliott’s Church, Union Baptist Church and Oak Grove Methodist Church are also in the City Limits.
Hatcher Hughes, who lived on a farm a few miles out of Polkville off SR 226 won the Pulitzer Price in 1925 for his play, “Hell bent for Heaven”. Hughes (1887 – 1944) attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Columbia University and served as Captain in World War I in France.
Prior to the Civil War, home tutoring and small church schools and academies were the only means of education in Cleveland County and such schools provided the foundation for today’s public school system. Small one-room school houses throughout the township provided elementary education for students who walked to the school houses. High School education was sought at neighboring towns. Piedmont High School in Lawndale, which was established in 1897 and known statewide as an excellent school, was available; also, Boiling Springs, Lattimore, Shelby had high schools and those who could provide their own transportation went to those schools. In 1928, Polkville High School opened its doors. It remained a high school until 1967 when a subsequent consolidation was affected and Polkville became an elementary school. The high schools now serving the Polkville area are Burns High School and Burns Junior High School.
The city limits of Polkville were extended in 1987 to a radius of two and a half miles from its only stoplight at the intersection of SR 226 and SR 182. The area is served by the Polkville Volunteer Fire Department and Upper Cleveland Rescue Squad. The upper Cleveland Cleveland County Sanitary District now provides water for most of the residents. First Citizens Bank, managed by Mrs. Ruth Sherman, is in the heart of Polkville on SR 226.
Polkville has no official emblem, but there is an active merchant’s association and town council. Various women’s clubs meet in the area, and the community is serviced by the Bookmobile from the Cleveland County Memorial Library in Shelby.
On SR 226 and Union Church Road, there in an airport which services private planes. Alongside the airport is located Camp Call Masonic Lodge Hall where the Masonic Order and the Order of the Eastern Star, Camp Call Chapter #287 meet. Both organizations ate an active part of the community. Often serving fund raising dinners to the public and to pilots when there is a “fly-in” at the airport. The white fields of cotton are no more, and the hum of the cotton gin is no longer heard in the Polkville community. The cotton gin stands idle, a stark reminder of the days when cotton was king and the local farmers chief money crop. The cotton acreage is now in land bank or being utilized for smaller and more diversified crops, fruit orchards and truck farming. The Polkville residences have their share of public jobs in local cotton mills of the neighboring towns and in industrial companies that have moved into the county. Polkville continues to grow. At Christmas and other special holidays, the streets are decorated and parades, complete with limousines, floats, marching bands, baton twirlers, clowns, and students of the dance march through the city of Polkville to the cheers of its proud people.
Town of Polkville, NC 