Paradise, Arizona

Paradise, Arizona
Ghost town
Paradise Cemetery
Paradise, Arizona
Location in the state of Arizona
Paradise, Arizona
Paradise, Arizona (the US)
Coordinates: 31°56′5″N 109°13′8″W / 31.93472°N 109.21889°W / 31.93472; -109.21889Coordinates: 31°56′5″N 109°13′8″W / 31.93472°N 109.21889°W / 31.93472; -109.21889
Country United States
State Arizona
County Cochise
Founded 1901
Abandoned 1943
Elevation[1] 5,482 ft (1,671 m)
Population (2011)
 • Total 5
Time zone UTC-7 (MST (no DST))
Post Office opened October 23, 1901
Post Office closed September 30, 1943

Paradise is a ghost town in Cochise County in the U.S. state of Arizona. The town was settled in 1901 in what was then the Arizona Territory.

History

Old Paradise photo

In 1901 the Chiricahua Development Company located a vein of ore here. A post office was established on October 23, 1901, and at its peak, the town had saloons, general stores, a jail and a hotel. The town was essentially abandoned when the local mines failed, and the post office closed on September 30, 1943.[2][3] However, a few residents remained. In June 2011, there were five permanent residents and 29 standing structures[4] when the Horseshoe 2 Fire swept through the area.[5]

Geography

Paradise is located 5.7 miles west (up-mountain) from Portal, Arizona, and is surrounded by Coronado National Forest land.[1]

A fictional town named Paradise in Arizona is the main setting of the video game Postal 2. The town is destroyed by a nuclear explosion at the end of the game. However, the town in Postal 2 is actually based on Bisbee, Arizona, as confirmed by one of the developers.[6]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Paradise
  2. ↑ Sherman, James E.; Barbara H. Sherman (1969). "Paradise". Ghost Towns of Arizona (First ed.). University of Oklahoma Press. pp. 114–115. ISBN 0-8061-0843-6.
  3. ↑ Granger, Byrd H. (1970) Arizona Place Names, Tucson: University of Arizona Press
  4. ↑ Southwest Incident Management Team (21 May 2011) "Emergency Bulletin: Horseshoe Two Fire Update; Precautionary Evacuation Remains in Effect" Arizona Emergency Information Network (AzEIN)
  5. ↑ Rocky Basin Type-2 Incident Management Team (10 June 2011) "Emergency Bulletin: Horseshoe Two Fire 40 Percent Contained; Winds Expected from Southwest" Arizona Emergency Information Network (AzEIN)
  6. ↑ http://runningwithscissors.com/main/index.php?topic=1399.msg18103#msg18103

Further reading

  • Alden Hayes, A Portal to Paradise, University of Arizona Press (1999), ISBN 0-8165-2144-1
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