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A−History
History · West Paris

West Paris’ post office opened in 1854, and 34% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 77% of U.S. towns. What drives it

3 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 5 buildings. Below: maps from 1894 on and the census since 1960.

1854first post office
3on the National Register
34%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How West Paris began

When was West Paris founded?

1854

The West Paris post office opened in 1854, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, North Paris (1829) and Snow Falls (1850), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 1,050 in 19602020 census: 1,766172 years

How historic is West Paris?

A−

More historic than 77% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first West Paris post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives West Paris’ History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, West Paris is more historic than 77% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of West Paris’ overall grade.
Founding era1854, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194033.5% of homes (±11.5) · typical ME town 19.1% · U.S. 8.4%ANational Register3 listings, 7 historic buildings, 38.7 per 10,000 residents · typical ME town 15.9 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 77%
NewerOlder

Maine towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Maine town has 15.9 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so West Paris’ 38.7 sits above most of its state (70% of Maine towns have fewer) while its 7 historic buildings outnumber those of 73% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±11.5 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about West Paris’ past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of West Paris are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s West Paris, and 2 old place names are still on the map.On the map since 19113 editions of the USGS map, 1911 to 1967. Watch West Paris change.Mapped building by building3 fire insurance maps, 1894 to 1907, drew every building in West Paris.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start West Paris’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how West Paris’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

West Paris’s post office has been open since 1854. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

North Paris
1829–1909
Snow Falls
1850–1912
West Paris
1854–today
18201920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
North ParisTrap Corner
Gone or out of use
Legion Memorial Schoolschool
10cemeteries and burying grounds inside West Paris
AndrewsChaseFinnishForbes DistrictGraysNorth ParisPorter NeighborhoodStearns HillTuelltownWayside

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

On the map

West Paris on the map, 1911 to 1967

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

West Paris on the 1911 USGS mapWest Paris on the 1942 USGS mapWest Paris on the 1967 USGS map1911Bryant Pond 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 West Paris.

The story

How West Paris came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of West Paris.

Read it all →

It began as part of Paris, granted by the Massachusetts General Court in 1771 to Captain Joshua Fuller and his company of 64 soldiers as payment for their service to the colony. First settled in 1779, the land was considered superior for pasturage and hay crops, and orchards were large and productive. Mills were built along the Little Androscoggin River. The Paris Manufacturing Company, which was started modestly by Henry Franklin Morton in 1861 at West Sumner, grew into an important manufacturer. Near the Grand Trunk Railway depot in West Paris, it built a factory to make products including sleds, skis, wagons, step ladders, wheelbarrows, ironing boards, children's rolltop desks and other furniture.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

West Paris, 1829 to 1912

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1829Post officeThe North Paris post office opens
  3. 1850Post officeThe Snow Falls post office opens
  4. 1854Post officeThe West Paris post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1909Post officeThe North Paris post office closes
  7. 1911On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1912Post officeThe Snow Falls post office closes
By decade

West Paris, decade by decade

Today4 recent
Stearns Hill Farm, West Paris, Maine, in October2020Stearns Hill Farm, West Paris, Maine, in OctoberWestParisME ArthurLMannLibrary2014WestParisME ArthurLMannLibraryDSC074672012DSC07467Snow Falls2007Snow Falls
Every building

West Paris, building by building, 1894–1907

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 year, then a sheet.

West Paris fire insurance map, 1894, sheet 11894Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone

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

On the National Register

3 historic places in West Paris

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

places listed
3
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
7
each building in a district counts
first listed
1989
Mann, Arthur L., Memorial Library
Mann, Arthur L., Memorial LibraryStearns Hill FarmWest Paris Lodge No. 15, I.O.O.F.
BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

Late Victorian2
Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals1
Mid-19th Century1
Queen Anne1
Italianate1
Mann, Arthur L., Memorial LibraryLate 19th and 20th Century Revivals
Stearns Hill FarmMid-19th Century
West Paris Lodge No. 15, I.O.O.F.Late Victorian

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

People over time

West Paris, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0001960198020002020Peak: 1,812

Between 1,050 and 1,812 people in every census since 1960.

7 censuses, 1960–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on West Paris’ Wikipedia page.

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Woodstock2 historic placesA−Paris8 historic placesASumner2 historic placesA−Greenwood3 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about West Paris’ history

What year was West Paris founded?

The West Paris post office opened in 1854, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does West Paris rank for history?

West Paris is more historic than 77% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

What is on the National Register in West Paris?

Three places: the Mann, Arthur L., Memorial Library (listed 1989), the Stearns Hill Farm (2009) and the West Paris Lodge No. 15, I.O.O.F. (2012).

How old are the homes in West Paris?

34% of West Paris’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±11.5 points), against a typical 19% for a Maine town; the median home was built in 1973.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (4), Wikidata (3), the National Register of Historic Places (3), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.