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View of Market Square, South Paris, MEPhoto: Unknown photographer · Public domain
–Not graded
History · South Paris

South Paris’ post office opened in 1824, and 42% of its homes were built before 1940

6 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1885 on, and old-book passages.

1824first post office
6on the National Register
42%homes built before 1940
6old photos & papers
3famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From South Paris’ archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How South Paris began

When was South Paris founded?

1824

The South Paris post office opened in 1824, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 2,183202 years
Founding year: the first South Paris post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about South Paris’ past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Landmarks on the Register6 places on the National Register.Deep rootsA post office since 1824: 202 years of South Paris.Old housesHalf of South Paris’ homes were built before 1961.
★ What stands out · On the National Register

6 historic places in South Paris

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
6
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
6
each building in a district counts

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Timeline

South Paris, 1826 to 1946

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1826Born hereWilliam Deering is born here
  3. 1869In the archiveSouth Paris, May 30, 1876
  4. 20th century
  5. 1905In the archiveMarket Square
  6. 1912Born hereReta Shaw is born here
  7. 1946On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story

How South Paris came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of South Paris.

Read it all →

On November 4, 1773, when the Proprietors were lotting out the township, they held a meeting at Coolidge Tavern in Watertown, Massachusetts and they voted that there be reserved for the use of the proprietors their heirs and assigns forever two rods in width on the eastward side of every range line through the length of the township for the conveniency of ways if it shall be needed, establishing rangeways to prevent landlocking and segregation in the township of Paris and West Paris.

During the 19th-century, the Little Androscoggin River provided water power to operate mills in South Paris, and the village grew up around them.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about South Paris in 1890

Passages that mention South Paris, cut from the printed page as they were published.

IpN 1815, the first Post OfHce in Rumford was established, and |J| until there was a Post Office, mail carriers were, of course, unnecessary. A Post Office was established in South Paris in 1801, and in Norway Village the same year. One had been established in Waterford the year previous, and in Fr…
History of Rumford, Oxford County, Maine, from its first settlement in 1779, to the present time1890 · page 111Read the page →
Read the text

IpN 1815, the first Post OfHce in Rumford was established, and |J| until there was a Post Office, mail carriers were, of course, unnecessary. A Post Office was established in South Paris in 1801, and in Norway Village the same year. One had been established in Waterford the year previous, and in Fryeburg in 1798, and for many years these offices supplied all the back towns in the county.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

By decade

South Paris, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1860s to the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1860s4 items
South Paris, May 30, 1876c. 1869South Paris, May 30, 1876South Paris, May 30, 1876c. 1869South Paris, May 30, 1876South Paris, May 30, 1876.Alternate Title: A crowd gathered near a decorated memorialc. 1869South Paris, May 30, 1876.Alternate Title: A crowd ga…South Paris, May 30, 1876.Alternate Title: A crowd gathered near a decorated memorialc. 1869South Paris, May 30, 1876.Alternate Title: A crowd ga…
1900s2 items
Market Squarec. 1905Market SquareOxford County Courthouse1907Oxford County Courthouse
1910s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
On the map

South Paris on the map, 1946 to 2000

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of South Paris. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

South Paris on the 1946 USGS mapSouth Paris on the 1983 USGS mapSouth Paris on the 2000 USGS map1946Norway sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of South Paris.

Every building

South Paris, building by building, 1885

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a sheet.

South Paris fire insurance map, 1885, sheet 11885Sheet 1 of 1
Sheets
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

South Paris, May 30, 1876
Retake this viewSouth Paris, May 30, 1876, c. 1869

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on South Paris’ page.

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

3 famous people were born in South Paris

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Reta ShawAmerican actress · b. 1912
William DeeringAmerican businessman · b. 1826
W
Willard N. YoungAmerican politician
Help out

Finish South Paris’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewSouth Paris, May 30, 1876: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Norway3 historic placesAParis8 historic placesA

Questions about South Paris’ history

What year was South Paris founded?

The South Paris post office opened in 1824, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (6), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.