Polk County, NC joins Rutherford near Columbus metropolitan centre yielding a 2020 estimated population standing at 20,420 making it the 107th most populous county located in North Carolina overall. Its county seat is Columbus although other cities include Mill Spring & Saluda- Columbus itself corresponds out to Polk's biggestcity aside from noted country seat. This area had been created out of Henderson and Rutherford counties back in 1855 when local residents petitioned for new administrative boundaries - posthumously named after James K Polk American president who served as Eleventh President Of USA during era Abraham Lincoln .