Thomas Polk

In 1755, surveyor Thomas Polk (1732-1794) built his home where two Indian trading paths met. Many years later this crossroads would become the Square, the intersection of Charlotte's busy Trade and Tryon streets. Polk married Susannah Spratt, whose family was one of the first to make their way through the wilderness to what would become Charlotte Town. With Abraham Alexander and John Frohock, Polk bought 360 acres of land from Britain's Lord Augustus Selwyn. The land lay where the future downtown Charlotte would flourish.

In the 1770s, conflicts grew between settlers and the British rulers who wanted to maintain control over the colonies. Thomas Polk became commander of the local army, called a militia. He was one of 27 men who signed controversial documents in 1775 that pronounced the county's freedom from British rule. The Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence and the Mecklenburg Resolves would remain the source of controversy for many years.

When President George Washington visited Charlotte in 1791, he dined at the home of Thomas Polk.