Dallas (Georgia)

Dallas, Georgia is located west of Atlanta in Paulding County. It is a semi-rural town without much night life or excitement, though not without growing pains. As a suburb of Atlanta, it is predominantly a family community with above average schools for the Metro Atlanta area and somewhat lower crime and housing costs.

It has a bit of a story to tell. After prospectors chased the Creek and Cherokees off during the Georgia Gold Rush during the 1830s, the Civil War came along with the Battles of Dallas, Pickett's Mill, and New Hope Church in 1864 and laid things to waste.

Then one day in 1903 during booming Reconstruction era times, a train, the "Ole 888", jumped the tracks on Pumpkinville Creek and demolished the city's prized trestle made 2 years prior.

Some time later, in 1977, a Southern Airways flight lost control and crashed during an emergency landing attempt with many fatalities. A marker commemorates the site.

These things can be witnessed to some degree today.

• Pickett's Mill Battlefield State Historic Site, 4432 Mt Tabor Church Rd. One of the more prominent Civil War memorials in the area, with exhibits like cannons and fortifications to see. Open daily 9AM-5PM.

• Memorial of Southern Airways Flight 242, 4235 Dallas Acworth Hwy. Remembers the pilots and 61 passengers who perished when this plane was caught in a heavy thunderstorm and lost control during an attempted landing.

• Silver Comet Trail - walk (or preferably) bike this 61.5 mile repurposed rail trail that used to be a conduit for passenger trains and crosses the Pumpkinville Creek on a rebuilt trestle from where the former one was lost. Access the rail from multiple points in town like at Tara Drummond Trailhead at 588 Seaboard Ave or being the Paulding Chamber of Commerce.

• High Shoal Falls, 2184 High Shoals Rd. A picturesque waterfall at the end of a marked path. Open daily 7AM-9PM

• Ragsdale Inn, 103 Ragsdale Pl. A 1905 farmhouse turned bed & breakfast. Tel: +1 770-443-3440.