Paradise, Arizona

Paradise, Arizona
Ghost town
Paradise, Arizona

Location in the state of Arizona

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 MST (no DST) (UTC-7)
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 at 31°56′5″N 109°13′8″W / 31.93472°N 109.21889°W / 31.93472; -109.21889 (31.9348131,-109.2189503), and is surrounded by Coronado National Forest land.[1]

In popular culture

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]

Robert Heinlein set his story "Blowups Happen" in Paradise, Arizona.

The movie Postal is also set in a fictional town named Paradise. While the movie doesn't directly identify the state, there is a scene where a law enforcement agent is stopped behind an elderly woman who doesn't grasp the concept of a green light. The license plate on her car is clearly Arizona

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

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