The Town of Paris (named after plaster of paris, which was plentiful in the area) was founded by Hiram Caprum. A "high-tech geek" of his time, Caprum made his money off of an iron furnace at Long Point.

In the early 1900's, Penman's knitting mills brought woman in from all over the world to work in Paris. Because of this, the majority of bread winners were female - an almost unheard of circumstance during this time period.