Old Paradise

At these four corners stood the Old Town of Paradise, known in the 1860’s as Leonard’s Mill. Just north were the mill, hotel, and stage stop. To the northeast was a turpentine distillery, and to the east was the school. The Paradise post office was established and a Sunday school organized in 1877. Church was held in the Good Templars Lodge Hall on the southwest corner in 1882 next to a grocery store and doctor’s office. The first church was built to the southeast in 1869. Here were also a blacksmith and wagon shop and a saloon. The town waned after it was bypassed by the railroad in 1909.

Paradise, California · United States