Eiffel Tower Replica

Paris, Tennessee

Despite recurring binges of U.S. animosity toward France (e.g. "surrender monkeys," "freedom fries") Americans unfailingly find something to love about the French. We know this because we still buy French wine when it's on sale, dine at French-themed McDonald's, and drive our foreign fuel-averse cars to the 15 towns in the U.S. named "Paris."*

As of this writing, not one of these municipalities has changed its name to "Freedomville," or "Patriotown." And several of our domestic Parisians have celebrated their French connection with replicas of its most iconic structure -- the Eiffel Tower.

In Paris, Tennessee, a town of about 10,000, a 60-foot-tall Eiffel tower was originally created at Christian Brothers University in Memphis, then donated and permanently installed in Paris's Memorial Park. This somewhat petite ET succumbed to the civic aggressions of a taller tower in another Paris. When it started to deteriorate, the tower was not only refurbished, it was boosted to touch the clouds at 70 feet.

There continue to be taller Eiffel Towers (including the original) but Paris, Tennessee, is the only place also boasting it is home of the "World's Biggest Fish Fry."

*U.S. States with a Paris: Arkansas, Idaho, Illinois, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, Missouri, New York, Tennessee, Texas, Wisconsin. Canadian Provinces with a Paris: Ontario, Yukon