Editing Villa Rica, Georgia (section)

===Old Villa Rica (Hixtown)===
Shortly after the arrival of the wagons in 1826, gold was discovered there.<ref>{{cite web|title=Villa Rica Brochure|url=http://www.villaricatourism.com/include/brochure/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061211025704/http://www.villaricatourism.com/include/brochure/|archive-date=December 11, 2006|access-date=2007-05-31}}</ref> 1826 was also the year that Carroll County was created and named for [[Charles Carroll of Carrollton]], [[Maryland]], because he was the last living signer of the [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]]. Although it did not develop into the large [[gold rush]] that would strike Georgia a few years later, there was a small gold rush in Villa Rica in the late 1820s. When the [[Georgia Gold Rush]] took hold in 1829, most of the Villa Rica miners moved northeast to the [[Dahlonega, Georgia|Dahlonega]] area. Villa Rica was established in 1830. Nevertheless, some mining continued in the area, with several hundred men employed in nearby mines. In 1832, Hixtown had over 2,000 residents (60% of the county's population). Gold lots were $500 per acre compared to $2 per acre for land elsewhere in the county. There were at least 19 active gold mines.<ref name="vrcompplan"/> By 1860, the gold supplies in the area had been largely exhausted.

Early Villa Rica had a [[American frontier|Wild West]] atmosphere complete with [[Native Americans in the United States|Indians]], horse thieves, and [[vigilante]] justice. The area was originally part of the [[Muscogee|Creek Nation]], but the Indians were driven out of their lands after the Treaty of Washington in 1826 and by 1827, there were no more Creek in Georgia. Most moved west into Alabama, but there, too, they faced the avarice of white settlers, who sparked a brief war in 1836 that ended with the forcible removal of all of the Creek from Alabama to Oklahoma as well.

The local horse thieves were known as the Pony Club, and the vigilantes were the Slicks. At first, the Slicks would just hold Pony Club members caught stealing horses until a [[jury trial]] could be held. But Pony Club members usually had no trouble finding witnesses to prove their innocence, so the Slicks eventually started holding their own trials and the guilty were whipped. Things came to a head during the election of 1832 when large numbers of Pony Club members and Slicks got into a brawl. The Slicks won the fight, and the Pony Club demanded a [[grand jury]] try the Slicks on charges of [[assault]] and [[battery (crime)|battery]] with intent to kill. However, the jury ended up commending the Slicks and thanking them for their work.<ref name="HistoryOfVR"/>