Paris Area History
Paris, a Missouri town with a French name and in a
county named for President Monroe, is located on the Middle Fork of Salt River in the heart of the great
Mississippi Valley. The area was settled mainly by Kentuckians and Virginians and they brought their
traditions with them.
On Jan. 6 1831, the General Assembly of Missouri created a new county - Monroe. Josephus Fox, deeded
to the county a part of the land upon which the town of Paris was to be built.
In 1831 the site now occupied by
Paris was selected as the county seat of Monroe Co. Mrs. J. C. Fox named the new town "Paris" for her
home town of Paris, Kentucky. A log hotel was built and was known as the Glenn House.
Mr. Fox built the
first cabins on the north side of what is now Monroe St.
On Nov. 19, 1831, the County Court appropriated $3,100 for a new courthouse and $100 for a new jail.
It was completed in 1835 but was destroyed by fire 25 years later. The present Courthouse was built in 1912 at a cost of $100,000 and by 1913 it was
ready to use.
In 1832 there was ferry service across middle fork of Salt River north of Paris.
A bridge was built
in 1891 to replace the ferry. Mr. Fox brought a California Redwood tree and planted it on Monroe
St. in 1832. The tree is estimated to be about 150 feet tall and still standing today.
The first paper was published in 1840 called Missouri Sentinel. Three years later the name was changed to Paris
Mercury. The Monroe County Appeal that originally started in Monroe City, bought the Mercury
and moved to Paris. We still have the Monroe County Appeal today.
In the late 1880's, a log church building, first store and opera house were built.
Ten years earlier, the City Council purchased several hundred feet of garden hose for fire protection.
Then in 1880 a fire company was organized and an engine and hose cart were purchased.
The first street lights, 12 total, were lit each night. The first Female Seminary and Male Academy were
established in 1850. The first school district was organized in 1867.
The high school was the third established in Missouri. In 1888, Paris had 2500 residents, two banks, courthouse, public school, four churches,
four hotels, a flour mill, woolen mill, nine grocery stores, five dry goods stores, two jewelry stores,
a clothing store, three harness shops, three shoe stores, a saddlery store and a racket store.
There were two cigar factories and a hoop pole factory.
Fourth of July, 1896, 8-10,000 people celebrated in Paris, making this one of the largest crowds to
congregate in Paris. Many events have been held for over 100 years at the Fairgrounds located
along the east edge of Paris. There are approximately 33 acres there.
Paris can lay claim to famous writers such as Mary Margaret McBride, Amy McNutt,
Walter Russell Batsell and Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) was born not far east of Paris.
In 1868 bonds were passed to have a railroad service the area. The railroad has been owned by
several companies and served the area for close to 100 years before the depot was closed,
however the rails are still in use in the Kansas City to Chicago deliveries.
Revised Tuesday, May 08, 2007 Visitor
