When we heard the name Paris, our mind start imagine the full frame of Eiffel Tower. There are fifteen American municipalities named "Paris," but more than a few have chosen to erect Eiffel Tower replicas to pay homage to their French namesake. In 1993 both Paris of Texas and Paris of Tennessee dedicated to make Eiffel Tower replicas. This replica has found itself in a constant height battle with a replica in Paris, Tennessee, which was also completed in 1993. At first, Texas' tower was designed to be five feet taller than Tennessee's, at this moment Tennessee tower took the lead and it was 60 feet tall. But to finish the battle once and for all Paris, Texas added a cowboy hat to their tower, and won the height battle, clocking in at 65 feet. See the last pic of The Replica in Paris of Tennessee.
Photo credit Charles Baxter
Paris, Texas, was left in the faux-foreign architecture dust. Its claim to be the "Second Largest Paris in the World," and the inspiration for the title of the 1984 movie Paris, Texas, rang hollow. So in 1998 town boosters added a large red cowboy hat to the tip of the tower, tilted to push a few extra feet into the lower atmosphere.
Many decried this as the dumbest idea ever, but to us it seemed in the spirit of other local attractions: a grave monument with Jesus in cowboy boots and a junior college entrance decorated with a statue of their cartoon dragon mascot.
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The Replica in Paris of Tennessee This 1:20 scaled tower was built by students at Christian Brothers University and given to the city in 1992. Engineering students built the 60 foot replica in 1990 for the yearly Memphis in May festival which was highlighting France that year. Photo credit Brent Moore
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