Dallas, North Carolina

Dallas is a small town in Gaston County, North Carolina, and a suburb of both Charlotte and Gastonia. The population was 4,488 at the 2010 census. It was named for George M. Dallas, Vice President of the United States under James K. Polk.GeographyDallas is located at . It is approximately three miles north of the city of Gastonia and about west of Charlotte.According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 7.5km2, all of it land.Dallas lies within the Long Creek watershed. Long Creek is a right tributary of the South Fork Catawba River. Dallas is drained by Long Creek tributaries Dallas Branch and Little Long Creek.HistoryDallas was officially incorporated in 1863 and is the oldest incorporated town in Gaston County. It served as the original county seat for Gaston County from 1846 until 1911. The old Gaston County courthouse, renovated in 1868 after a fire, still stands in the main square of the town and formerly served as the headquarters of the Dallas Police Department. The town government has renovated the courthouse.Dallas began to decline in importance when the town commissioners refused to appropriate money for construction of bridges over several creeks for the Atlanta and Richmond Air-Line Railway in the 1872. The commissioners said the reason was because residents thought that trains would wake them during the night and frighten their livestock. After this the county seat was relocated to Gastonia in 1911.