Paulding County was created from Cherokee County on Dec. 3, 1832 by an act of the General Assembly (Ga. Laws 1832, p. 56). [Click here for complete text of legislation.] According to the 1832 act :

". . . so much of the first, second and third districts of the third section, as lies west of the line herein-before designated, and eighteenth, nineteenth, twentieth, twenty-first districts of the third section, and the first, second and seventeenth districts of the fourth section, shall form and become one county, to be called Paulding."

In way of background, by 1830, the Cherokee Nation consisted of most of northwest Georgia (see map), plus adjoining areas in Alabama, Tennessee, and North Carolina. Even while Cherokee Indians remained on their homeland in Georgia, the General Assembly on Dec. 21, 1830 enacted legislation claiming "all the Territory within the limits of Georgia, and now in the occupancy of the Cherokee tribe of Indians; and all other unlocated lands within the limits of this State, claimed as Creek land" (Ga. Laws 1830, p. 127). The act also provided for surveying the Cherokee lands in Georgia; dividing them into sections, districts, and land lots; and authorizing a lottery to distribute the land. On Dec. 26, 1831, the legislature designated all land in Georgia that lay west of the Chattahoochee River and north of Carroll county as "Cherokee County" (see map) and provided for its organization (Ga. Laws 1831, p. 74). However, the new county was not able to function as a county because of its size and the fact that Cherokee Indians still occupied portions of the land. On Dec. 3, 1832, the legislature added areas of Habersham and Hall counties to Cherokee County, and then divided the entire area into nine new counties -- Cass (later renamed Bartow), Cobb, Floyd, Forsyth, Gilmer, Lumpkin, Murray, Paulding, and Union -- plus a reconstituted and much smaller Cherokee County.

Georgia's 89th county was named for John Paulding (1759-1818), who was a hero of the American Revolution. In 1780, Paulding assisted in the capture of Major John André, a British spy planning the seizure of West Point.

In 1851, part of Paulding County was used to help create Polk County. Also, between 1832 and 1874 -- but particularly during the 1850s -- portions of Paulding County were annexed to Bartow, Campbell, Carroll, Cobb, Douglas, Haralson, and Polk counties. Between 1850 and 1874, parts of Carroll, Cobb, Douglas, and Polk counties were annexed to Paulding County.

Historical Maps

 

 

1832

 

1834

 

1839

 

1846

 

1855

 

1863

 

1864

 

1865

 

1874

 

1883

 

1885a

 

1885b

 

1895

 

1899

 

1904

 

1910

 

1915

 

1915

 

1952

 

1955

 

1970a

 

1970b

 

1999

 

2001a

 

2001b

Go to Historical Atlas of Georgia Counties

Go to Paulding County Courthouse page