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The Many Faces of Paris, Texas

Northeast Texas town embraces its quirky name.

By Morgan O'Hanlon

December 2024 Issue

Dr Pepper mural
Photo by Sonja Sommerfeld

While serious athletes flocked to Paris, France, this year to compete in the 2024 Olympics, a casual collection of recreationalists entered the “Paris Games” in Northeast Texas. The event honored the 2024 Paris Olympics with competitions in pickleball, weightlifting, tug-of-war and more. Even if field-day sports aren't your cup of tea, Paris offers year-round activities for any kind of traveler.

biker on Northeast Texas Trail
Photo by Maegan Lanham

Paris is near the midway point of the 132-mile Northeast Texas Trail. The NETT, as it's known by locals, is stitched together from pieces of existing railroad corridor. It connects more than 19 rural towns — from Farmersville, near Dallas, all the way to New Boston, a stone's throw from the Louisiana border — across seven Northeast Texas counties. The nearly 6-mile, paved section that runs through Paris is maintained by Lamar County and begins on Paris' Eighth Street between Jackson and Sycamore Street. It continues west until it runs into the Roxton Trail.

Although people can hike, bike and ride horses along the entire route, many sections of the trail require workarounds because of incomplete construction or deferred maintenance. The Northeast Texas Trail Coalition, which is working to complete and improve the whole system, provides instructions for detours on its website. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is currently assessing the feasibility of turning the NETT into a so-called “linear state park.” According to Kelly Whitley, the president of the NETT Coalition, TPWD involvement would bring benefits such as maintenance, publicity and improved facilities like campsites and water stations for trail users. Texas State Parks Director Rodney Franklin says he's excited for the potential of the trail — and not just because it's in his hometown. “The NETT presents a unique opportunity to help people enjoy the outdoors, while also connecting them with cultural treasures in our state's small, picturesque towns,” he says.

More biking opportunities abound at the Barber Hills Trails north of Paris, near Powderly, which boasts 17 miles of trails catering to both inexperienced (like myself) and more skilled riders with some optional, tricky descents and jumps with views over Lake Pat Mayse.

Lake Pat Mayse
Photo by Maegan Lanham

If you care to observe the outdoors rather than traverse it, you can seek out a collection of obscure attractions such as a statue of Jesus with cowboy boots in the Evergreen Cemetery. History buffs can enjoy an impressive collection of ephemera and relics maintained by a group of mostly retired volunteers at the Lamar County Historical Museum. These include an intact log cabin that is the oldest home in the county and a collection of Coca-Cola signs and memorabilia celebrating the town's significance as the first place in Texas where the sweet beverage was served.

A Taste of France

The trills and chills of Paris are best enjoyed alongside a dose of the city's signature irony. If you ask Texas Parisians about the 1984 movie named after their town, they'll get a funny look on their face and pause for a minute. “Oh, you mean that arthouse movie?” says Jennifer Jackson, a Lamar County native, when she realized what the heck I was talking about. “Kinda slow for my tastes.” She finished pouring customers a drink from behind the bar of Vin de Paris, a local shop specializing in French wines. Wim Wenders' critically acclaimed film, Paris, Texas, has inspired many jokes aboutthe town's oxymoronic name. “Plan a European road trip this summer,” suggests a popular meme accompanied by an image of a Google Maps route through Paris, Dublin and other Texas towns named after foreign cities.

But if Paris, Texas, is a punchline, its citizens are in on the joke. “We're proud of our name,” said Becky Semple, tourism director at the Lamar County Chamber of Commerce. Semple believes Paris has thrived by leaning into its distinctive moniker.

Eiffel Tower replica
Photo by Sonja Sommerfeld

Paris, named in the 1840s, follows an American tradition of cities named after France's City of Light — there are at least 20 of them in the continental U.S., and many of these have replicas of the Eiffel Tower. Texas, true to its nature, has set out to make its version the best, or at least second-best after the one in France. After a Texas twister took out the town's first replica, the city installed a 65-foot-tall iron replica in 1993. A few years later, when a Tennessee town built a tower that rivaled its height, a group of Parisians placed a giant red cowboy hat on top, extending the height another 10 feet and settling the matter.

Grand Theater
Photo by Sonja Sommerfeld
Paris Bakery
Photo by Sonja Sommerfeld

Much of the visitor-friendly activity in Paris is centered around its historic downtown. An assortment of businesses — espresso-brewing coffee shops, upscale boutiques, trendy restaurants and the wine bar where Jackson works — inhabit the charming brick and stone buildings in Paris' downtown. These sophisticated newer projects live in harmony alongside hidden gems like Swaim Hardware, a nearly hundred-year-old store with a maze of items. “Anything but food, they've got it,” says Kristie Lee, a native of the city. Cast iron pans, guns, knives, an assortment of nuts, bolts and screws rivaling the collection of books in the Library of Alexandria provide a feast for the eyes as you shuffle through the store's narrow passageways.

Historic Homes

Downtown Paris is picturesque because of a tragic history. A series of three fires devastated Paris, with the last in 1916 destroying about half the town, including almost the entire downtown. The subsequent reconstruction was led by a group of wealthy Paris residents who rebuilt the downtown in months. Paris now sits on the National Register of Historic Places because it has the largest collection of contiguously constructed buildings between 1916 and 1918.

Sam Bell Maxey House
Photo by Sonja Sommerfeld

The Sam Bell Maxey House, built in 1868, is one of a handful of mansions that survived the 1916 fire. The celebrated house museum was managed by Texas Parks and Wildlife (it's where parks director Franklin got his start) until it was transferred to the care of the Texas Historical Commission in 2008. It offers a glimpse into Victorian life with original furnishings and the book collection of Maxey, a Civil War general and U.S. senator.

The family also played a role in the town's ecology. Maxey's wife, Marilda Denton, is responsible for the abundance of crepe myrtles in Paris. She was the first known person to bring the trees to Texas from her Kentucky homestead. They're so ubiquitous in the town that it's now known as the crepe myrtle capital of the state. (The crepe myrtle was declared the official state shrub in 1997.) The mottle-barked trees with their delicate blossoms aren't native — they come from East Asia and were brought to the United States by a French botanist in the 1790s. The tree has thrived in the southeastern states, and although it has foreign origins, the seeds have become a significant food source for native birds.

Cody Head at the Scott Mansion
Photo by Maegan Lanham

As you head back to town from the Maxey House, as I did, you won't miss a baroque mansion taking up nearly half of a historic district block. Cody Head, a former drama teacher at the local high school who now works as the executive director of local hospitality company 247 Mesa, is helping to restore this landmark, the Scott Mansion, and half a dozen other culturally and architecturally significant buildings in Paris. Many of the projects won't be complete until years in the future, but the first, a French-inspired bistro, is scheduled to open in early 2025.

With high-class accommodations on the way, Paris is growing more cultured, like its French namesake. It may never be Paris, France, but locals and visitors like it better that way.

Where to Play

Lake Bois d'Arc

This North Texas lake, the first major reservoir built in Texas in three decades, opened to the public in spring of this year. The 26-square-mile lake helps the growing Dallas-Fort Worth area meet both its water and recreational needs with three boat ramps and an annual stocking of 90,000 bass and 100,000 channel catfish.

Lake Pat Mayse

Camping's available on the banks of Lake Pat Mayse, a short drive north of Paris, at facilities maintained by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Lamar County. Many of these campsites can be booked online at recreation.gov. Hunters can test their skill in the TPWD wildlife management area with a drawn permit. The lake is also popular with anglers and is known for its large populations of crappie and white bass.

Caddo National Grasslands

This Fannin County wildlife management area is divided into two units: the 13,360-acre Bois d'Arc Creek Unit and the 2,780-acre Ladonia Unit. Each fall and winter, TPWD coordinates hunting opportunities on the WMA by permit. The area is good for dove, quail, waterfowl, squirrel and white-tailed deer. Coffee Mill Lake and Lake Davy Crockett offer fishing for sunfish, crappie, catfish and largemouth bass. Camping is offered in designated campsites.

Caddo National Grasslands
Photo by Sonja Sommerfeld

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