South Paris is included in the Lewiston-Auburn, Maine metropolitan New England city and town area.The population was 2,237 at the 2000 census.

During the 19th-century, the Little Androscoggin River provided water power to operate mills in South Paris, and the village grew up around them.

[2] The opening of the Atlantic and St. Lawrence Railroad on June 8, 1850 further spurred development of the small mill town.

[3] In the 1890s, the Oxford County Courthouse moved from Paris Hill to be near the Grand Trunk Railway station.

Moore Park no longer has a water fountain, but there is a monument in the center with a gazebo to one side for public events.

36.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 17.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.