Paris Community Theatre - the Plaza

R. F. Scott building in Paris

Photograph of a fountain in the Paris town square. The words "Gift of J. J. Culbertson, 1927" are carved into the side. The fountain is not running.

Photograph of a historic plaque in Paris, Texas. It reads: "The Paris Fire. 1916. Although Paris was founded in the mid-1840s, many of its historic structures were lost in a fire that destroyed almost half the town in 1916. The blaze started about five o'clock on the afternoon of March 21, 1916, at the S. J. Long warehouse near the southwest city limits. Its cause is unknown, but one theory is that a spark from a switch engine ignited dry grass near the warehouse. Winds estimated at 50 miles per hour soon blew the fire out of control as it burned a funnel-shaped path to the northeast edge of Paris. Firemen from Bonham, Cooper, Dallas, Honey Grove, and Hugo, Okla., helped the Paris Fire Department battle the flames, which were visible up to 40 miles away. The blaze destroyed most of the central business district and swept through a residential area before it was controlled at about sunrise on March 22. Property damage from this fire was estimated at $11,000,000. The structures burned included the federal building and post office, Lamar County Courthouse and jail, City Hall, most commercial buildings, and several churches. Rebuilding was begun quickly as townspeople collected …

United States Post Office and Court House, Paris

Photograph of the First United Methodist Church in Paris, Texas. It was built between 1921 and 1924. It is a three-story stone building with a dome that houses an additional story on the top.

Photograph of a historic plaque in Paris, Texas. It reads: "John James Culbertson, March 16, 1853 - September 27, 1932. Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, John James Culbertson grew up in large Northeastern cities. He married Emily Lou Lee of New Jersey in 1882 and soon became a salesman for a cotton product company based in Alabama. During his southern travels, Culbertson saw the potential for profit from cottonseed oil. He moved to Paris and was instrumental in building the first Paris cotton mill about 1884. The company, Paris Oil Works, was sold to American Cotton Oil Trust in 1887, and Culbertson moved to Arkansas to manage a Southern Oil Company Plant. Four years later the Culbertsons returned to Paris, where he built a small cottonseed oil empire through the Paris Oil and Cotton Company, later known as Southland Cotton Oil Company. Culbertson was asked to participate in a master plan for the growth of Paris in 1913. As an influential Texas financier, he was appointed to the board of directors of the Federal Reserve Bank in Dallas when it was formed in 1914. His nationwide reputation as a cotton producer led President Woodrow Wilson to appoint him to a board …