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History · Paris

32% of Paris’ homes were built before 1940

1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 1 buildings. Below: 6 old photos and papers and maps from 1943 on.

1on the National Register
32%homes built before 1940
6old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Paris’ archive · credits on each photo
The story

How Paris came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Paris.

Read it all →

Peter Glascock acquired the deed for what became the town in 1786 from Kimball Hicks. The land had been part of the Northern Neck Proprietary and also part of Thomas Lord Fairfax's Leeds Manor.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Paris, 1800 to 1943

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1800Post officeThe Paris post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1933In the archiveWatts Ashby Tavern, State Routes 759 and 701
  5. 1943On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Paris, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1930s6 items
Watts Ashby Tavern, State Routes 759 and 7011933Watts Ashby Tavern, State Routes 759 and 701Watts Ashby Tavern, State Routes 759 and 7011933Watts Ashby Tavern, State Routes 759 and 701Watts Ashby Tavern, State Routes 759 and 7011933Watts Ashby Tavern, State Routes 759 and 701Watts Ashby Tavern, State Routes 759 and 7011933Watts Ashby Tavern, State Routes 759 and 701Watts Ashby Tavern, State Routes 759 and 7011933Watts Ashby Tavern, State Routes 759 and 701Watts Ashby Tavern, State Routes 759 and 7011933Watts Ashby Tavern, State Routes 759 and 701
1940s–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
Today6 recent
2016-09-28 15 18 39 View south along U.S. Route 17 (Winchester Road) between U.S. Route 50 (John Mosby Highway) and Gap…20162016-09-28 15 18 39 View south along U.S. Route 17 (W…2016-09-28 15 16 43 View south along U.S. Route 17 and east along U.S. Route 50 (John Mosby Highway) at Federal Street …20162016-09-28 15 16 43 View south along U.S. Route 17 an…2016-09-28 15 15 07 View south-southeast from U.S. Route 17 and U.S. Route 50 (John Mosby Highway) just east of Ashby G…20162016-09-28 15 15 07 View south-southeast from U.S. Ro…2016-09-28 15 12 12 View north along U.S. Route 17 and west along U.S. Route 50 (John Mosby Highway) at Winchester Road…20162016-09-28 15 12 12 View north along U.S. Route 17 an…2016-09-28 14 37 24 View east along U.S. Route 50 (John Mosby Highway) at U.S. Route 17 (Winchester Road) in20162016-09-28 14 37 24 View east along U.S. Route 50 (Jo…Landscape near Delaplane2006Landscape near Delaplane
On the map

Paris on the map, 1943 to 1970

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

Paris on the 1943 USGS mapParis on the 1970 USGS map1943Ashby Gap sheet · 1:24,000

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

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.

Watts Ashby Tavern, State Routes 759 and 701
Retake this viewWatts Ashby Tavern, State Routes 759 and 701, 1933

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Paris

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
2007
Paris Historic District
Paris Historic District
Districts

Architectural styles listings

Federal1
Gothic Revival1
Colonial Revival1
I-House1
Commercial1
Paris Historic DistrictFederal

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Paris

Nobody well known was born in Paris itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Richard E. ByrdAmerican naval officer, explorer · b. 1888
Patsy ClineAmerican country singer · b. 1932
Rick SantorumAmerican politician and commentator · b. 1958
Harry F. Byrd Jr.Politician from the United States · b. 1914
Benita Fitzgerald-BrownAmerican hurdler · b. 1961
Brian BenbenActor · b. 1956
Help out

Finish 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 viewWatts Ashby Tavern, State Routes 759 an…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Paris’ history

What is on the National Register in Paris?

One place: the Paris Historic District (listed 2007).

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 (12), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.