Welcome to Columbus, N.C., named after a local doctor

The county seat of Polk County, situated in the southwestern foothills region of North Carolina, is the Town of Columbus.

 

Curiously, the community is not named after the famous explorer who sailed the ocean blue in 1492 – Christopher Columbus. 

Rather, the community takes its name from Dr. Columbus Mills, a beloved local physician and former state legislator. Dr. Mills was elected to the state senate in 1846, and he was instrumental in carving Polk County out of Henderson and Rutherford counties. The legislature approved the measure that same year.

 

The new county’s namesake was Col. William Polk “a meritorious officer in the Continental Line during the American Revolution, who rendered distinguished service.” Col. Polk later served as a member of the board of trustees at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. (He was an older cousin of North Carolinian James K. Polk, who became the 11th U.S. president.) 

The Columbus town historian said the state legislature’s first effort to find a county seat for Polk County “was greeted by a public squabble.” Many folks balked at the chosen name of Skyuka, in recognition of a legendary Cherokee chief. 

To avoid controversy and conflict, the North Carolina General Assembly responded in 1847 by simply repealing the act to form Polk County. 

Dr. Mills convinced his legislative colleagues to try, try again. Finally, state lawmakers voted to reestablish Polk County in 1855. This time the legislature appointed “three out-of-county men as commissioners to locate the county seat at or within two miles of the geographical center of the county,” and the place would be named Columbus in honor of Dr. Columbus Mills. 

The panel chose the base of Fosters Mountain – known today as Chocolate Drop Mountain – as the site of the county seat.

The courthouse building was completed in 1859, and Dr. Mills was one proud peacock.

 

He was 53 years old when he enlisted to serve as an army surgeon with the Confederacy during the Civil War in 1861, reported North Carolina’s legendary historian William S. Powell. 

“During much of the war, Dr. Mills served as provost marshal, and on one occasion ordered a detail of Confederate cavalry to seize two brothers who were hiding refugees and deserters from the Confederate army,” Powell wrote. 

“Dr. Mills resigned his commission in March 1863 and returned home,” Powell said. “Soon afterwards, renegades attacked the Mills home, from which the doctor and his family barely escaped.” 

“Local conflicts between Unionists and secessionists” prompted Dr. Mills to relocate to Cabarrus County. Dr. Mills served as the President of the “Fair of the Carolinas” (now the North Carolina State Fair) in 1873. 

“After the Grange (also known as the Patrons of Husbandry) was organized in March 1873 as a cooperative means of resolving some of the farmers’ problems in the state, Dr. Mills was elected to the position of Overseer. He died in 1882 at the age of 74. 

Today, the Town of Columbus has the only House of Flags Museum in the United States. It’s located in the old town firehouse. 

The idea occurred to local resident and World War II veteran George Scofield on July 4, 2000, as a way to educate people about flag history. He immediately gained the support of Columbus VFW Post 9116 and community leaders.

 

Robert Williamson stepped in after Scofield died in 2008 to serve as museum curator. “Every flag has a story to tell,” he said, “and we like to say that every day in Columbus is Flag Day.”