Editing Polk County, Florida (section)

===United States control===
{{main|History of Florida#Territory and Statehood}}
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, and 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]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Missall|first1=John|last2=Missall|first2=Mary Lou|year=2004|title=The Seminole Wars: America's Longest Indian Conflict.|publisher=University Press of Florida|location=Gainesville, Florida|isbn=0-8130-2715-2|pages=138–142}}</ref> By 1843 the few Seminoles remaining in Florida were confined to an informal reservation in southern Florida.<ref>{{cite book|last=Mahon|first=John K.|author-link=John K. Mahon|year=1967|title=History of the Second Seminole War|publisher=University of Florida Press\location=Gainesville,Florida|pages=316–318}}</ref>

While Florida gained statehood in 1845, Polk County was not created until a month after Florida had seceded from the Union. It was formed from the eastern part of [[Hillsborough County, Florida|Hillsborough County]] and named in honor of former US President [[James K. Polk]],<ref>{{cite book|title=Publications of the Florida Historical Society|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WZQ-AAAAYAAJ&pg=RA2-PA33|year=1908|publisher=Florida Historical Society|page=33}}</ref> who had been popular with Southerners for supporting the expansion of slavery<ref name=":0" /> and whose 1845 inauguration was on the day after Florida became a state.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=Rousos|first=Rick|title=How Polk Got Its Name|url=https://bluetoad.com/publication/?i=293252&article_id=2419357}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Kline |first=Jeffrey |date=February 6, 2011 |title=Just Who Was James K. Polk? |url=https://www.theledger.com/article/LK/20110206/News/608072867/LL |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210817035228/https://www.theledger.com/article/LK/20110206/News/608072867/LL |archive-date=17 Aug 2021 |access-date=August 16, 2021 |work=The Ledger}}</ref>

Following the Civil War, the county commission established the county seat on {{convert|120|acre|km2}} donated in the central part of the county. Bartow, the county seat, was named after [[Francis S. Bartow]], a Confederate colonel from Georgia who was the first Confederate brigade commander to die in battle. Colonel Bartow was buried in [[Savannah, Georgia]], with military honors, and promoted posthumously to the rank of brigadier general. The original name of the town was Fort Blount. Several other towns and counties in the South changed their names to Bartow to honor the brigade commander. The first courthouse built in Bartow was constructed in 1867.{{citation needed|date=July 2020}} It was replaced twice, in 1884 and in 1908. As the third courthouse to stand on the site, the present structure houses the Polk County Historical Museum and Genealogical Library. After the Civil War, some 400 Confederate veterans settled here with families before the end of the century.{{citation needed|date=July 2020}}