Polk

Green River Plantation
Green River Plantation is an historic mansion built c.1804. The home is open to the public; tours focus on the history of the home and the two primary families who occupied it - the Carson family and the Coxe family. The site is also available to be rented for special occaisions and houses a bed and breakfast and restaurant.

Polk County Historical Association, Inc.
Polk County Historical Museum
The Polk County Historical Museum, located in the old train depot in Tryon, houses material culture, manuscripts, and photographs of local and regional interest. Artifacts include pioneer tools and clothing, railroad memorabilia, military and medical artifacts, a newspaper editor's office, and a safe that once belonged to Margaret Morley. Documents include a collection of letters of former state senator Carroll Pickens Rogers and a large collection of Polk County photographs from a variety of sources.

Polk County Public Library
The Polk County Public Library has a special collection of local history materials and a huge collection of books and reading assistance equipment for the hearing impaired and visually impaired.

Lanier Library
In the winter of 1889 when Tryon, NC, was a village of red clay roads and only twenty-four houses, five ladies met and formed a club to encourage the civic and educational welfare of the community and to promote and support a library. Named for poet Sidney Lanier whose last months of life were spent in Tryon, the library's first books were two volumes of his poems, a gift from his widow, Mary Lanier. This library grew from that beginning and has occupied the same building since 1910. The Lanier Library is a private membership, not-for-profit organization. It is open to the public but only members may check out books. Special collections include the Sidney Lanier collection of his works and memorabilia, the Morgan Memorial Collection of works of the performing and creative arts, and an impressive growing collection of other art books.

Saluda Public Library
The Archives Room at the Saluda Public Library makes available materials on local history of Polk County, particularily the railroad and Saluda Grade, and family history including a colletion of Hart family papers.

Polk County Travel and Tourism Council
The Polk County Travel and Tourism office houses a small vertical file containing information and clippings on all aspects of Polk County history. Of particular interest is their file on Tryon Toy Makers.

Felburn Foundation
Nature Library
The Nature Library is a natural history reference library sponsored by the Felburn Foundation, a non-profit nature preservation organization. Felburn Foundation acquires and protects natural areas of beauty and ecological significance. Founded in 1983 as an educational branch, the library provides resources to advance the study and appreciation of the natural world. Four categories of books - earth, sky, flora and fauna - are collected with special sections on legends, Native Americans, and photography. Also of interest are nature periodicals, clipping files on environmental issues, an extensive map collection and exhibits of seashells, rocks and minerals, seeds and other natural materials.