Odd Paris, Texas

There are fifteen American municipalities named “Paris,” and most of them have erected an Eiffel Tower replica. Paris, Texas commemorated their Eiffel Tower in 1993. Coincidentally, Paris, Tennessee also commemorated theirs that same year. Unfortunately for them, their 60-ft tall tower had no bragging rights attached as the Texas Eiffel Tower came in at 65-ft tall. Not willing to just let it go, Tennessee soon replaced their tower with a 70-ft version and joyfully let the Texas clan know that despite Paris, Texas being the 2^nd largest Paris in the world as well as the inspiration for the title of the hit 1984 movie “Paris, Texas,” they now were the site of the 2^nd largest replica tower and therefore inferior to Paris, Tennessee.

No self-respecting Texan could not respond to such an affront, but boosters knew their rather small town could not afford to build a series of slightly bigger towers. So, being ever resourceful Texans, in 1998 they added a large red cowboy hat to the top of the tower. Placed on a pole on top of the tower, the hat added just enough height to officially be taller than the Tennessee entry. The hat, 4 ½-feet-tall and 10-feet wide, was then tilted to gain a few extra feet. With a friendly missive which basically said, “In your face!” Paris, Texas declared itself to be the location of the world’s tallest Eiffel Tower replica.

Any further one-upmanship was short-circuited the very next year when Las Vegas erected a 540-ft. tall Eiffel Tower Replica along the Strip. At half the height of the original (which is 984 ft. tall), this replica effectively put a stop to any future challenges. But Paris, Texas can still lay claim to being the location of the world’s only Eiffel Tower with a cowboy hat!

Fire-breathing dragon?

Paris is also home to the rather well-known, at least in Texas, Paris Junior College. While being respected for high-quality academics, the athletic accomplishments of the school have been rather successful with several national junior college championships in basketball and baseball. This success has come about in spite of what may be the absolute least-fearsome-depicted mascot in all the land –Pyro the Dragon. I know, dragons are usually thought to be fire-breathing monsters and therefore an excellent mascot that will no doubt instill fear in all unfortunate opponents. But Pyro? “Lovable doofus” comes to mind much more readily than a fire-breathing monster. Take a look and decide for yourself.

I visited Paris in early December, 2011, on an overcast, cold day with intermittent rain showers and a threatening storm. I found that unlike the bleak, dry, desert landscape depicted in the 1984 movie, the real Paris, Texas is located along the edge of the East Texas forest with gently rolling farm land far away from any desert. The town and the friendly people have a number of interesting items to see and things to do. A couple of days in one of the local B&B establishments with drives around town to see the sites and a good book to curl up with at night might be just what the doctor ordered if you need to unwind and take a break.

Enjoy the little things. One day you’ll look back and realize they were the big things.

Jesus In Cowboy Boots

Evergreen Cemetery in Paris, Texas is the final resting place for over 40,000 souls. Founded by charter in 1866 by some of Paris’ most influential personalities, it was established in response to the growing needs of the growing city. The original cemetery was composed of only 16 acres and was sold to the cemetery association by George Wright for $320. When it was chartered, it had already had a history as a family cemetery, and since the original land sale, it has grown through grants and additional sales of land.

Today, Evergreen Cemetery is best known for the poignant headstones; the beautifully carved tributes to the loved and lost. They are emblems of history, art, and a window into the lives of those buried and their families. Among these markers are a variety of angels, both winged and not, young and old, each carved with a care and elegance that is increasingly rare in this modern world. There are also plants; leaves, ivies and broken trees. Perhaps these are a testament to the love of the natural world that someone once had. In addition, there are anchors and chains, a carved newspaper front page, a variety of sheep, and a resting buffalo.

Statue on the Babcock Family
 grave

With over 40,000 graves though, it’s the headstone of a small-town furniture maker which gets most of the attention. People come from near and far to see the grave they’ve heard about. Most don’t know the person buried there, they really just want to see what’s above him – Jesus in cowboy boots.

Jesus in cowboy boots?

Willet Babcock is the man in eternal rest beneath the boot-wearing Jesus. Willet was originally from New York and he owned two cabinet-making factories. He brought automation to his factories which helped Paris become the cabinet-making center of Texas in the 1870’s; he helped charter a railroad company; and he served on several boards of directors, including the Evergreen Cemetery.

However, few if any of the visitors know any of that. Actually, nobody really knows for sure if it really is Jesus up on the pedestal above Willet’s grave. Look closely and you might say he’s not as macho as most other depictions of Jesus. That same close inspection will also reveal Jesus is not carrying a cross, but is instead leaning on it. Some people think the figure is simply an angel leaning on a cross mourning over a grave. A local historian whose grandfather supposedly was friends with Willet is of the opinion that it is really a Shakespearian character up there as Willet was a big fan of the Bard, but he can’t say which character it is and besides, it’s highly doubtful any of them purchased their footwear from Sheplers.

Still other locals report Willet and his wife were atheists and the whole thing is just their tongue-in-cheek tweak-of-the-nose toward the ultra-religious conservatives in town. It is a long-held tradition, especially in the south, for people to be buried with their feet to the east. The east is the direction of Jerusalem, of the 2^ndcoming, and Archangel Gabriel’s horn will sound from that quarter. In order to be facing Christ when they rise from their graves on Judgment Day, the dead must lie with their feet to the east. A posthumous punishment given to those who have extraordinary sins (murder, suicide) is to bury them on a north-south axis so the poor soul will rise facing in the wrong direction. The Babcock’s is the only statue in the cemetery that does not face east. Also, carved into the pedestal base are inverted torches and anything upside down is a sure sign of godlessness. The boots are simply a kicker, the final act of blasphemy, sort of like putting a Stetson on Noah.

What do you think?

The superintendent of Evergreen Cemetery has his own theory however. He thinks Willet simply had a sense of humor about the whole thing and that’s why he set it up that way, so it would give everybody something to cogitate on. He postulates that had Willet died today, we would probably see the same statue up there wearing Nikes. Maybe he was, after all, just a pretty cool guy.