Norway and South Paris are twin towns with a thin line of division. The area high school is in South Paris, but walk across the street and you're in Norway. Each town has its own government, its own fire department, and its own police. Each town has a library. Yet, in conversation, locals run the names together as if it were one place. It's not Norway and South Paris, it's Norway South Paris. Even the local credit union is called NoPar. A hundred years ago things were different. Back then, each town had its own high school. The towns were more divided, more competitive. There were differences of opinion. And what do differences of opinion make? Horse races, of course. Here are three articles from the old Oxford Democrat: Feb 2nd 1897 SOUTH PARIS: They have a very fast horse over at Norway. According to reports Geo. Cole's horse has been making a quarter mile at better than a 2-minute clip. Now South Paris has no 2-minute horse, but we have one here that some of the horsemen take a little local pride in, and H. G. Fletcher assures the Democrat that he will be very willing to start his horse "Doctor" against Mr. Cole's horse at any time, just to see how near to a 2-minute horse he can keep, you know. Feb 9th 1897 SOUTH PARIS: "To err is human, to forgive divine." We can forgive Mr. Cole of Norway for thinking he had a two-minute trotter. Probably he made an honest error in taking the time, and an error of ten seconds or so upon a trial quarter-mile makes as much difference as an inch or two in the length of a mare's nose. Acting upon the suggestion made by the Democrat last week, Mr. Cole came up like a man and matched his horse against H. G. Fletcher's "Doctor." A double straightway track of half mile was scraped on the ice at Norway Lake, and on Thursday afternoon a good sized audience gathered there to see the race. After a little scoring in which the South Paris horse gave every evidence of being the faster, the latter broke a shoe and the trial of speed was postponed until Friday afternoon. On that day the audience was larger and the Fletcher horse was sick with a cold and in bad condition, but it was decided to start him and the trial proved a very easy victory for him as he won both heats easily with a long lead, making a quarter in 37 seconds, and another in 35 1/2 seconds, and demonstrated his ability to do better than this, while Mr. Cole's 2-minute "Norway Cyclone" proved to be only a mild zephyr in this race and not in the same class with the Pure Wilkes horse. It was generous in Mr. Cole to offer to give Mr. Fletcher twelve rods start and then beat him, and it was gracious in kindhearted Mr. Fletcher to decline the offer. It beats all how these horse fellows love each other in a race. Either the Norway horse has been advertised into a reputation that he never deserved or else he had an "off day" that was a great way off. Two-minute trotters don't grow upon blackberry bushes even in Oxford County! Feb 9th 1897 NORWAY: The horse trot on the ice Friday was well attended by sporting men. The Norway side did not appear to be "in it" at all for South Paris walked away with the prize with little difficulty. As South Paris and Norway are all one now it makes very little difference after all.
Zephyr