Paris, Illinois

Paris was established in 1826 on land donated by Samuel Vance to be the county seat, and was incorporated as a village in 1849. The town most likely received its name from the word "Paris" carved into a jack-oak tree in the middle of what became the town and not after France's capital.{{cite web|url=http://parisillinois.org/about/|title=City of Paris|access-date=6 November 2015}}

Paris's history includes the service of two brothers, Walter Booth and Newton Booth, as its mayors in the mid-1850s. Newton Booth later moved west to California, where he served as governor and a U.S. senator.

The commission form of government was adopted in 1915. In 1907, L. A. G. Shoaff bought the Centralia White Stockings and renamed them the Paris Colts. In 1908 the team was renamed the Paris Parisians. After the 1908 season the team went under. In the 1950s Paris was home to a minor-league baseball team named the Paris Lakers. A contest was held among the community to decide on a name for the team. James C. Dickey's submission, the Paris Lakers, was chosen. The Lakers were the 1956 Midwest League Champions and were an affiliate of the Chicago Cubs.[http://mwlguide.com/years/1956/ mwlguide 1956]

U.S. Route 150 and Illinois State Route 1 pass through Paris. Both Illinois State Route 16 and Illinois State Route 133 have Illinois State Route 1 as their eastern terminus. One railroad passes through town, a Decatur & Eastern Illinois line that goes north to Danville and southeast to Terre Haute, Indiana.

The Edgar County Airport is located north of the city.

According to the 2021 Census Gazetteer files, Paris has a total area of {{convert|6.06|sqmi|km2|2}}, of which {{convert|5.68|sqmi|km2|2}} (or 93.70%) is land and {{convert|0.38|sqmi|km2|2}} (or 6.30%) is water.{{Cite web |title=Gazetteer Files |url=https://www.census.gov/geographies/reference-files/time-series/geo/gazetteer-files.html |access-date=2022-06-29 |website=Census.gov}}

{{US Census population

|1860= 1930

|1870= 3057

|1880= 4373

|1890= 4996

|1900= 6105

|1910= 7664

|1920= 7985

|1930= 8781

|1940= 9281

|1950= 9460

|1960= 9823

|1970= 9971

|1980= 9885

|1990= 8987

|2000= 9077

|2010= 8837

|2020= 8291

|footnote=U.S. Decennial Census{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html|title=Census of Population and Housing|publisher=Census.gov|access-date=June 4, 2015}}

}}As of the 2020 census{{Cite web |title=Explore Census Data |url=https://data.census.gov/cedsci/profile?g=1600000US1757628 |access-date=2022-06-28 |website=data.census.gov}} there were 8,291 people, 4,137 households, and 2,576 families residing in the city. The population density was {{convert|1,368.15|PD/sqmi|PD/km2}}. There were 4,185 housing units at an average density of {{convert|690.59|/mi2|/km2|disp=preunit|units |units|}}. The racial makeup of the city was 95.12% White, 0.54% African American, 0.24% Native American, 0.51% Asian, 0.81% from other races, and 2.79% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.81% of the population.

There were 4,137 households, out of which 27.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.00% were married couples living together, 14.48% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.73% were non-families. 32.90% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.69% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.47 and the average family size was 2.03.

The city's age distribution consisted of 18.4% under the age of 18, 9.4% from 18 to 24, 24.3% from 25 to 44, 26.6% from 45 to 64, and 21.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43.5 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.8 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $42,446, and the median income for a family was $49,612. Males had a median income of $38,295 versus $25,250 for females. The per capita income for the city was $24,984. About 12.1% of families and 14.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 18.9% of those under age 18 and 8.2% of those age 65 or over.

Paris has two public school districts: Paris Union School District 95 (for those living inside city limits) and Paris Community Unit School District No. 4 (for those outside the city limits). Those in District 95 send their children to Mayo Middle School, while Unit 4 children attend Crestwood School. Both schools feed into one high school, Paris High School, which until 2009 was under District 95. On July 1, 2009, the renamed Paris Cooperative High School became Illinois's first cooperative high school.{{cite web |url=http://www.isbe.state.il.us/SFMS/pdf/reorg_history.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2009-09-29 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110614100900/http://www.isbe.state.il.us/SFMS/pdf/reorg_history.pdf |archive-date=2011-06-14 }} The high school celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2009.{{Cite web |url=http://paris95.k12.il.us/100anniv/ |title=PHS 100 year Anniversary Celebration |access-date=2009-01-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090115165930/http://paris95.k12.il.us/100anniv/ |archive-date=2009-01-15 |url-status=dead }}

Paris Cooperative High School's mascot is the tiger and its colors are orange and black.

Paris was also the home of Saint Mary's School, a Catholic school serving preschool through 8th grade open to children of all religions. St. Mary's was the only tuition-based private school in Paris. St. Mary's School Catholic School closed on May 23, 2018.

The Paris Community Fire Protection District has five stations, including Paris, which is a full-time paid department. The others are Vermilion, Oliver, Grandview, and Redmon, which are all volunteer departments.

Climate is characterized by relatively high temperatures and evenly distributed precipitation throughout the year. The Köppen Climate Classification subtype for this climate is "Cfa" (Humid Subtropical Climate).[http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/weather-summary.php3?s=16611&cityname=Paris%2C+Illinois%2C+United+States+of+America&units= Climate Summary for Paris, Illinois]

{{Weather box

|location = Paris, Illinois (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1893–present)

|single line = Y

| Jan record high F = 71

| Feb record high F = 75

| Mar record high F = 88

| Apr record high F = 92

| May record high F = 99

| Jun record high F = 106

| Jul record high F = 109

| Aug record high F = 107

| Sep record high F = 105

| Oct record high F = 93

| Nov record high F = 83

| Dec record high F = 73

| year record high F = 109

| Jan high F = 34.0

| Feb high F = 38.8

| Mar high F = 49.9

| Apr high F = 62.8

| May high F = 73.0

| Jun high F = 81.6

| Jul high F = 84.4

| Aug high F = 83.0

| Sep high F = 77.7

| Oct high F = 65.5

| Nov high F = 50.8

| Dec high F = 38.8

| year high F = 61.7

| Jan mean F = 25.3

| Feb mean F = 29.3

| Mar mean F = 39.5

| Apr mean F = 51.4

| May mean F = 62.1

| Jun mean F = 71.2

| Jul mean F = 74.1

| Aug mean F = 72.3

| Sep mean F = 65.8

| Oct mean F = 54.1

| Nov mean F = 41.0

| Dec mean F = 30.6

| year mean F = 51.4

| Jan low F = 16.6

| Feb low F = 19.9

| Mar low F = 29.1

| Apr low F = 40.0

| May low F = 51.2

| Jun low F = 60.7

| Jul low F = 63.8

| Aug low F = 61.7

| Sep low F = 53.8

| Oct low F = 42.6

| Nov low F = 31.2

| Dec low F = 22.5

| year low F = 41.1

| Jan record low F = −23

| Feb record low F = −21

| Mar record low F = −8

| Apr record low F = 17

| May record low F = 27

| Jun record low F = 33

| Jul record low F = 45

| Aug record low F = 39

| Sep record low F = 24

| Oct record low F = 15

| Nov record low F = -6

| Dec record low F = −22

| year record low F = -23

| precipitation colour = green

| Jan precipitation inch = 2.81

| Feb precipitation inch = 2.33

| Mar precipitation inch = 3.00

| Apr precipitation inch = 4.94

| May precipitation inch = 4.17

| Jun precipitation inch = 5.02

| Jul precipitation inch = 3.83

| Aug precipitation inch = 3.57

| Sep precipitation inch = 2.94

| Oct precipitation inch = 3.62

| Nov precipitation inch = 3.66

| Dec precipitation inch = 2.85

| year precipitation inch = 42.74

| Jan snow inch = 8.6

| Feb snow inch = 3.6

| Mar snow inch = 2.0

| Apr snow inch = 0.3

| May snow inch = 0.0

| Jun snow inch = 0.0

| Jul snow inch = 0.0

| Aug snow inch = 0.0

| Sep snow inch = 0.0

| Oct snow inch = 0.0

| Nov snow inch = 0.6

| Dec snow inch = 4.0

| year snow inch = 19.1

| unit precipitation days = 0.01 in

| Jan precipitation days = 9.7

| Feb precipitation days = 8.8

| Mar precipitation days = 9.8

| Apr precipitation days = 11.2

| May precipitation days = 12.0

| Jun precipitation days = 9.6

| Jul precipitation days = 8.5

| Aug precipitation days = 7.6

| Sep precipitation days = 6.8

| Oct precipitation days = 8.7

| Nov precipitation days = 9.1

| Dec precipitation days = 9.8

| year precipitation days = 111.6

| unit snow days = 0.1 in

| Jan snow days = 4.5

| Feb snow days = 3.4

| Mar snow days = 1.4

| Apr snow days = 0.2

| May snow days = 0.0

| Jun snow days = 0.0

| Jul snow days = 0.0

| Aug snow days = 0.0

| Sep snow days = 0.0

| Oct snow days = 0.0

| Nov snow days = 0.7

| Dec snow days = 2.4

| year snow days = 12.6

|source 1 = NOAA

{{cite web

| url = https://w2.weather.gov/climate/xmacis.php?wfo=ilx

| title = NowData – NOAA Online Weather Data

| publisher = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

| access-date = July 21, 2021}}

{{cite web

| url = https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/services/data/v1?dataset=normals-monthly-1991-2020&startDate=0001-01-01&endDate=9996-12-31&stations=USC00116610&format=pdf

| title = Station: Paris STP, IL

| work = U.S. Climate Normals 2020: U.S. Monthly Climate Normals (1991-2020)

| publisher = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

| access-date = July 21, 2021}}

}}

{{div col}}

• Lionel Artis, civil servant{{cite web |last1=Zellers |first1=Elizabeth |title=Lionel F. Artis Papers, 1933-1967 |url=https://www.indianahistory.org/wp-content/uploads/lionel-f-artis-papers-1933-1967.pdf |website=Indiana Historical Society |access-date=20 November 2019}}
• George W. Bristow, chief justice of the Illinois Supreme Court, lived in Paris
• Shorty Cantlon, race car driver
• Ed Carpenter, race car driver, born in Paris
• Alfred M. Craig, chief justice of the Illinois Supreme Court, born in Paris
• Brett Eldredge, country music singer, born in Paris
• Jack Franklin, pitcher for the Brooklyn Dodgers
• Albert Austin Harding, University of Illinois band director, raised in Paris
• George Hunt, Illinois attorney general
• W. H. Lillard, college instructor, headmaster at Tabor Academy, head football coach at Dartmouth College
• Alice Moore McComas (1850–1919), author, editor, lecturer, and reformer
• Richard P. Mills, educator
• Jean Paige, actress
• Troy Porter, plumber and civil rights leader
• Bernie Shively, college football Hall of Fame member and University of Kentucky athletic director
• Benny Shoaff, American race car driver
• Lee Sholem, film and television director, born in Paris
• Abraham L. Stanfield, businessman and politician
• Barbara Stuart, actor, born in Paris
• Tom Sunkel, MLB pitcher, managed the Paris Lakers from 1950 to 1954
• Carl Switzer, actor, best known as "Alfalfa" in the Our Gang film series.
• Harold Switzer, actor, older brother of Carl Switzer
• Bill Van Dyke, outfielder for the Toledo Maumees, St. Louis Browns, and Boston Beaneaters
• Rodney Watson, men's head basketball coach, University of Southern Indiana
• William Zeckendorf, real estate developer{{div col end}}

• Paris Lakers, minor league baseball team from 1950 to 1959
• Paris Parisians (Eastern Illinois League), semi-pro baseball team
• Paris Picaduras, semi-pro baseball team

• Asher Morton Farmstead
• Edgar County Courthouse
• France Hotel
• Paris Carnegie Public Library
• Paris Elks Lodge No. 812 Building
• Pine Grove Community Club

{{Reflist}}

{{Commons category|Paris, Illinois}}

• {{cite EB1911|wstitle=Paris (Illinois) |volume=20 |page=823 |short=x}}

{{Edgar County, Illinois}}

{{Illinois county seats}}

{{authority control}}

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Category:Populated places established in 1826

Category:Cities in Edgar County, Illinois

Category:Cities in Illinois

Category:County seats in Illinois

Category:1826 establishments in Illinois