History · Paris

Paris’ post office opened in 1845, and 16% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 57% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Below: maps from 1893 on and the census since 2000.

1845first post office

0on the National Register

16%homes built before 1940

1famous people

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Quick answers

How Paris began

When was Paris founded?

1845

The Paris post office opened in 1845, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 1,473 in 20002020 census: 1,397181 years

How historic is Paris?

More historic than 57% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓

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

History grade

What drives Paris’ History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Paris is more historic than 57% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Paris’ overall grade.

Founding era1845, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA⁻Homes built before 194015.7% of homes (±4.9) · typical WI town 12.1% · U.S. 8.4%B National RegisterNo listings counted · typical WI town 3.0 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C

All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 57%

NewerOlder

Wisconsin towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Wisconsin town has 3.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Paris’ 0.0 sits below most of its state (28% of Wisconsin towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.9 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 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 Paris are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18934 editions of the USGS map, 1893 to 1971. Watch Paris change.Deep rootsA post office since 1845: 181 years of Paris.

★ What stands out · Help out

Start Paris’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how 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

On the map

Paris on the map, 1893 to 1971

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

1893Silver Lake 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 Paris.

Timeline

Paris, 1845 to 1903

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

19th century
1845Post officeThe Paris post office opens
1856Born hereMary D. Bradford is born here
1893On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
20th century
1903Post officeThe Paris post office closes

The story

How Paris came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Paris.

Read it all →

Seth B. Myrick was the first settler in Paris, arriving from Paris, New York, on July 10, 1837. Later arrivals allowed Myrick the privilege of naming the community, and he chose the name of his original home community. On his monument stone is inscribed: "He was the first settler in this town and named it Paris."

St. John the Baptist Catholic Church celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2009.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.

Add from your album

People over time

Paris, census by census

Between 1,397 and 1,504 people in every census since 2000.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Paris had its own post office from 1845 to 1903.

Paris

1845–1903

18401930today

4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Paris

Bristol - ParisParis CornersParis LutheranSaint Johns

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

SomersIts storyC Kenosha22 historic placesA Yorkville1 historic placeB⁺BristolIts storyB⁻BrightonIts storyB

Questions about Paris’ history

What year was Paris founded?

The Paris post office opened in 1845, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Paris rank for history?

Paris is more historic than 57% 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.

How old are the homes in Paris?

16% of Paris’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.9 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1966.

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 Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.

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