Dallas is a city in, and the county seat of, Paulding County, Georgia, United States. The estimated population, as of 2010, was 11,544. Dallas is a northwestern exurb of Atlanta, located approximately from the downtown area. It was named for George M. Dallas, Vice President of the United States, under James K. Polk. History The area where in and around Dallas was originally held by the Muscogee people, but would eventually lose their land in battle to the Cherokee in 1755. The area became a crossroads for the Cherokee who lived in the area. When gold was discovered in Georgia in 1828, it began what was known as the Georgia Gold Rush. Paulding County was soon separated into 40-acre "Gold Lots" during the Gold Lottery of 1832 and people came from other parts of Georgia and other states to seek gold. The settlers found little gold in the area, with only small amounts being found in mines at Lost Mountain. Many settlers began using their parcels of land to grow crops instead. During the time the Georgia Gold Rush began to happen, the Cherokee people began to be forced off of their lands. Not long after, the Indian Removal Act was signed by president Andrew Jackson, effectively removing the Native Americans to Indian Territory west of the Mississippi River on the Trail of Tears. When the Georgia General Assembly took the original western portion of Paulding County to create Polk County in 1852, it also took with it the original county seat, Van Wert. The legislature ceded western portions of Cobb County to create the newly-drawn Paulding County, thus making it necessary for the creation of a new town to serve as the county seat. The town of Dallas was officially created from of land purchased from Garrett H. Spinks on May 14, 1852, for $1000. Its first commissioners were James H. Ballinger, James S. Hackett, Hezekiah Harrison, John S. Poole, and Garrett H. Spinks. The new town of Dallas was named for then Vice-President of the United States, George Mifflin Dallas, of Pennsylvania. He served under President James Knox Polk, for whom the new county to the west had been named. The Dallas area is home to multiple battle sites that were part of the Atlanta Campaign in the American Civil War in 1864. The Battle of Dallas took place near downtown Dallas. The Battle of New Hope Church