South Paris trip planner

South Paris is a census-designated place (CDP) located within the town of Paris in Oxford County, Maine, in the United States. The population was 2,237 at the 2000 census. While the CDP refers only to the densely settled area in the southern part of the town of Paris, the entire town is located within the South Paris ZIP code, resulting in many residents referring to the entire town as South Paris.HistoryDuring the 19th-century, the Little Androscoggin River provided water power to operate mills in South Paris, and the village grew up around them. The opening of the Atlantic and St. Lawrence Railroad on June 8, 1850 further spurred development of the small mill town. In the 1890s, the Oxford County Courthouse moved from Paris Hill to be near the Grand Trunk Railway station. Much of the manufacturing and industry faded with the Great Depression, but South Paris remains the commercial section of Paris, and retains much of its Victorian era architecture. Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School, the regional high school, was founded in South Paris in 1961. Actress Reta Shaw was born in South Paris in 1912.