Thursday, August 2, 2012
The original livery was built around the time of the Civil War.
Around the time that the city of Dallas was mapped out in 1852, horse and buggies were the primary mode of transportation. That’s why having a livery stable in the downtown square was important, said Jason Edwards, Paulding County’s historian. Shortly after the Civil War, J.B. Foote, who owned the Foote Hotel, built a livery stable on Main Street where The Craft Cottage now is located. While livery stables were used for boarding and renting out horses, the stable in Dallas primarily was used to board horses of people who came to visit the city. “It's not just a coincidence that the man that owned the hotel owned the livery stable,” Edwards said. In 1894, Foote sold his property and building to brothers James B. Watson and John C. Watson. …
Sunday, July 29, 2012
Masonic Lodge members relocated their building after the courthouse was moved.
The lot where the Masonic Lodge now stands on Main Street in downtown Dallas was once the place where residents went to do business. The original brick structure was built by Erastus Guile out of bricks that were made locally at a property on Confederate Avenue across from its intersection with Polk Street. It was accepted by Paulding County in 1853, and it was used as the county’s courthouse until 1892, when the historic courthouse across the street on the Dallas Square was built. The Dallas Masonic Lodge was chartered in 1853, and they used a building across Memorial Drive from what is now Dallas City Hall—where Georgia Highlands currently has a building—for their meetings. But in 1892 when the county began using the new courthouse, the …
Monday, July 9, 2012
The house that Dallas' mayor has lived in almost his entire life was built in the 1870s.
Dallas Mayor Boyd Austin said the center portion of his house on Confederate Avenue might be one of the oldest houses still standing in Dallas. The white, wooden house was built in the early 1870s with a kitchen, hall, dining room and a bedroom by Noel Roberts. “He built many of the houses on the street,” Austin said. “He may have had a saw mill on the lot next door when my house was constructed.” Roberts added onto the house as well, and by 1911, the house had seven rooms and three porches—a front porch and two side porches. Roberts died in 1900s and the next year, his widow, Sarah Chapel Roberts, bought it from her husband’s estate in 1901. After Roberts died in 1908, Cleon Gordon bought it from Roberts’ estate. In 1915, Gordon removed …
Monday, July 2, 2012
Paulding County's first jail was built out of logs.
The city of Dallas' first jail was burned down—by its prisoners. The log cabin-style jail was built soon after the county seat was moved to Dallas in 1852. In 1859, it was destroyed by fire, something that would have been relatively easy for the prisoners to do, said Jason Edwards, Paulding County’s historian. “It probably wouldn’t have been that difficult back then,” Edwards said. “It was just a one-room building. Plus, they would have had a fireplace to heat with. They had ready access to fire.” After the prisoners set the jail on fire and escaped, Paulding County went seven years without a detention facility—instead transporting criminals to other jurisdictions, like Cobb or Carroll counties. “I’ve seen that they one time took prisoners…
Monday, June 18, 2012
The building that now houses Illustrator Tattoo once was Dallas' communications hub.
What is now a tattoo parlor in downtown Dallas once was a hangout for local teens and later the place where telephone calls were routed into and out of the city. The building sandwiched between a church and antique store on Main Street was built in 1895 as the J.J. Cooper and Co. Drug Store and Grocery. In 1901, Cooper sold the building to Dr. A. J. Cooper, who used it for a drug store. He sold the store in 1909 to another druggist, Dr. James E. Hanna, who had been running a drug store out of it several years prior to buying it. Hanna sold the building to Dr. William O. Hitchcock in 1910, and in 1912, a second story was added. It was there that the Gainsborough Telephone Company’s telephone exchange was housed until around 1940. The …
Monday, June 11, 2012
The Lee house on Main Street once was located where the city now has a parking lot.
The building that once was the oldest house in Dallas is no longer standing. The house, built in 1853 by William C. Lee, was constructed on the property that is now the city’s parking lot on Main Street across from Curl’s Pharmacy. Lee bought the property from the Inferior Court for $75. When Lee died in 1867, his widow, Lavenia Eubanks Lee, sold the house to Andrew E. McBrayer. According to research done by Paulding County historian Jason Edwards, McBrayer likely never lived in the house and instead used it as a rental property. In 1874, McBrayer sold the house to Henry Braswell and B.M.C. Matthews, who turned around the next year and sold it to George W. McLarty. The McLarty family, who had moved to Dallas from Campbell County, lived in …
Monday, June 4, 2012
Ownership of a downtown Dallas building changed hands several times throughout the years.
The lot in between Curl’s Pharmacy and Sal’s Pizzeria in downtown Dallas wasn’t always a place for cars to park. In the 1800s, it was the site of the Foote Hotel, a two-story wooden building. The hotel was built in 1857 by George W. Foote Sr. in what was Block F on the original survey of Dallas. The city was divided into various blocks and then lots within each block. They were 80 by 80, 40 by 80, or 40 by 40. “Just about every planned town was laid out in blocks and lots to be able to sell them,” said Jason Edwards, Paulding County’s historian. The hotel was totally destroyed by fire in December 1876. In 1877, Foote rebuilt the hotel on the same lot, making it two and a half stories tall. In 1882 he sold the hotel to his son, James B. …
33.92235
-84.84055
Curl's Pharmacy
318 Main St, Dallas, GA
/articles/parking-lot-once-housed-hotel
1156599
/locations/7143107
Monday, May 21, 2012
We've told you about the history of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, but the property the church sits on has its own history.
The First Baptist Church of Dallas may have moved to its current spot in 1905, but that property has a history of its own dating back to the 1840s. In 1849, the church’s property was part of at least 160 acres—encompassing what is now the entire downtown business district—owned by Garrett Spinks. In 1852, Spinks sold 40 acres to Paulding County for $1,000. That property later was developed into downtown Dallas. In 1884, Spinks had a two-story structure built where the First Baptist Church now stands, which was used as the Spinks Hotel until Spinks’ death two years later. The 24-room hotel had a slate roof and was the largest building in the area. “In 1884, if you don’t count houses, there were probably only two or three two-story buildings…
33.92167
-84.84022
First Baptist Church of Dallas
401 Main St, Dallas, GA
/articles/church-property-house-hotel-opera-house-school
1157309
/locations/7097361
Monday, April 9, 2012
Whether it was Saturday chats or Fourth of July festivities, residents used to gather at the old Paulding County Courthouse in downtown Dallas.
Back in the 1940s and 1950s, the building that then housed the Paulding County Courthouse was the center of activity. On Saturdays, men would come to town and sit on benches in front of the courthouse to shoot the breeze. Square dances were held throughout the year in front of the building and included local entertainment. And, on the Fourth of July, county residents would head to the building on the square in downtown Dallas for the annual singing and picnic. “You could hear the music from a mile or two around,” said Paulding County resident Dale Loudermilk, who grew up not far from the old courthouse on Hardee Street.” You could hear all the singing.” On the holiday, vendors would set up outside the courthouse, selling refreshments such …
newsjunky
12:17 pm on Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Sad that so many changes have been made. The fact that it did not remain original takes the uniqueness away from the home. From the street it is just another home. What really would be news worthy is if the house had been left unchanged since 1870. Rome, Georgia is lucky to have many old homes built in the early 1800's that people have restored by changing out only rotten wood and keeping them as… more ›