In 1835, Paris had several taverns, three stores, a school, and a church shared by several denominations as well as 25 dwellings, 2 saddlers, 2 blacksmiths, 2 wagonmakers, a tailor, a cabinetmaker, a chairmaker, a turner, a wheat fan maker, and three boot and shoe factories.

[5] The Manassas Gap Railroad, constructed in 1852, went slightly south through nearby Marshall, Delaplane, and The Plains, Virginia, so Paris and its carting-based businesses declined.

Because of its distance from the rail lines, the village saw little conflict during the American Civil War and was referred to in disparaging terms by both Confederate and Union writers.

The population in 1880 was 134 persons in 22 households, including physicians, wheelwrights, blacksmiths, harness makers, tanners, shoemakers, carpenters, seamstresses and a bookkeeper and silversmith.

The Trinity United Methodist Church at 684 Federal Street, built by Henry S. Hanes in a Gothic Revival style in 1892–1893, as of 2011 was deconsecrated but available to host events.

In 1951, philanthropist Paul Mellon rebuilt Trinity Episcopal Church, once Meade Parish in nearby Upperville, and whose structure taken down on account of dampness in 1895 had again become decrepit, in a Gothic revival style.