Downtown Paris Texas in the 1940s

Downtown Paris, Texas was a common meeting and gathering point for visiting soldiers, families and friends.  Nearly every business in the town at the time was located on The Plaza.  A large marble fountain, a gift of J.J. Culbertson in the 1920s, is still the focal point.  Using it as a backdrop, thousands of snapshots of the soldiers were taken on its steps or with it featured in the background.  Restaurants, retail stores, and banks were located within a few blocks of The Plaza. 

Paris had a population of around 20,000 at the outbreak of the war.  It had a lack of housing when the influx of Camp Maxey workers, families and soldiers came in 1941.  People turned extra rooms and floors in there homes into temporary housing.  Paris Superintendent of Schools Thomas Justiss and his wife opened up their home to include the young wife of George Rohrer of Company M, 406th Infantry Regiment of the 102d Infantry Division from Akron, Ohio. 

The Lamar Country Clerk's office was kept busy filing new Marriage Certificates at a record pace as the young men and women felt the rush to marriage.