The Paulding County Historical Society And Museum

Many of you might not know this, but Paulding County has a museum. Well it did not for many years until recently, when the Paulding County Historical Society restored it to its original historic value. However, before the historical society could do anything with the museum it had to be constructed.

The first school of Dallas was built in 1861, which happens to be the Paulding County Museum. From 1861 to the present, the school (museum) went through many different "hands". It was a school of course in the beginning and then it was "converted" into a hospital during the Civil War and then back into a school. Eventually the school changed "hands" and a family occupied it for many years. In time, the school was "converted" into a youth center for the First United Methodist Church of Dallas. The Church, recognizing its historical significance, offered the school to the Paulding County Historical Society in 1995. However, with one string attached.

The historical society had to come up with enough money to have the school moved. Within a matter of a few years, the historical society had raised enough money through the help of generous donations to have it moved to its current resting place at 295 North Johnston Street in Dallas. This happened to be just a few blocks away from the First United Methodist Church of Dallas. Now there was just the arduous task of "sprucing up" the school for its transformation into a museum.

Between the year of 1997 and 1999, many hard working "history buff" volunteers "spruced up" the school for its debut in the summer of 1999. The Paulding County Historical Society currently operates the museum as a nonprofit, nonpolitical organization, with member volunteers operating it.