The Republic of Texas established the Paris Post Office on April 1, 1843, and George W. Wright (1890-1877), the town's founder, was named its first postmaster. According to the custom of the day, Wright's store on 1st street and US 82 likely acted as the first post office. For the first fifty years, mail distribution probably was conducted out of the existing business office of the current postmaster, and after 1845, when postmasters were appointed by the U.S. government, the post office continued to operate from each postmaster's place of business, including a drugstore, a grocery store, a bookstore, and several hotels. In 1894, the U.S. Government built a federal court and post office building for the town, beginning a 106-year period during which a post office on the 300 block of Lamar Avenue served Paris residents. An annex on the same block opened in 1915, and although the 1916 fire destroyed the federal building and badly damaged the annex, repairs were made before Congress appropriated funds for a new post office. After a decade of construction hurdles, the new post office opened in 1925 on the 300 block of Lamar, was expanded with a second story two years later, and received a west extension, basement, and other modernizations in 1964. By the 1990s, the facility had been outgrown, and on Feb. 20, 2001, the post office moved to Clarksville Street, ending the 106-year span on Lamar Avenue while continuing its service to the city since its founding.