Site of Old Town Paradise

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the site of Old Town Paradise, out in Wise County, Texas. Now, every good Texas story starts with somebody showing up where nobody else has been yet, and this one's no different. Way back in 1858, a man named O.

H. P. Read made his home in south central Wise County, one of the earliest settlers to plant roots in that stretch of rolling prairie.

Others followed, the way pioneers do, and the little community that took shape got itself a name: Eldorado. Not a bad name, if you can keep it. William M.

Anderson opened a general store, and soon enough other businesses sprang up around him to serve folks who were building lives out there. A local surveyor by the name of Ben Banks laid out a proper town square, and somebody dug a water well right on the southeast corner of it. A square, a well, a general store.

That's the backbone of a Texas town right there. Then 1876 came around, and Eldorado went after something every settlement needed to feel real: a post office. They got the rights.

One problem. Another town had already claimed the name Eldorado. So the community changed its name to Paradise Prairie, and in time that got shortened down to just Paradise.

Now here's where a railroad enters the story, and railroads have a way of rearranging everything they touch. In 1892, the Chicago, Rock Island and Texas Railway built a line running from Montague County south all the way down to Weatherford in Parker County. That line cut through Wise County, and it came within one mile of Paradise.

One mile. That doesn't sound like much. But the marker puts it plainly: the railroad was a profound influence on the surrounding towns.

Residents and businesses started moving northeastward, pulling toward the rail line the way iron filings lean toward a magnet. By the early nineteen hundreds, a whole new Paradise was well under way, with churches, hotels, a new city well, and shops. The old town didn't vanish overnight, but its days were numbered.

By 1927, many of the cotton crops had been destroyed, and Old Paradise came to an end. What's left standing today in Old Town Paradise is a single private home, built by Confederate Lieutenant William Hall Jay, who is buried in the Paradise Cemetery. That house sits on a corner just south of where the old town square used to be, holding its ground while everything around it moved on or faded away.

The marker calls it a constant reminder of an earlier time. One house. One corner.

One name that almost wasn't Paradise at all.

What the marker says

SITE OF OLD TOWN PARADISE PARADISE IS A SMALL INCORPORATED TOWN WITH A POPULATION JUST SHORT OF 500 AND LOCATED IN SOUTH CENTRAL WISE COUNTY. ONE OF THE EARLIEST SETTLERS IN WISE COUNTY WAS O. H. P. READ, WHO MADE HIS HOME HERE IN 1858. MANY PIONEERS BEGAN MOVING TO THE AREA, INITIALLY CALLED ELDORADO. WILLIAM M. ANDERSON OPENED A GENERAL STORE, AND SOON AFTER, OTHER BUSINESSES SPRANG UP TO SERVE THE COMMUNITY. A TOWN SQUARE WAS DESIGNED BY LOCAL SURVEYOR BEN BANKS, AND A WATER WELL WAS DUG ON THE SOUTHEAST CORNER OF THE SQUARE. IN 1876, ELDORADO RECEIVED THE RIGHTS TO HAVE A POST OFFICE, BUT BECAUSE ANOTHER TOWN HAD CLAIMED THE RIGHTS TO THE NAME, IT CHANGED ITS NAME TO PARADISE PRAIRIE, LATER SHORTENED TO PARADISE. IN 1892, THE CHICAGO, ROCK ISLAND & TEXAS RAILWAY BUILT A LINE FROM MONTAGUE COUNTY SOUTH TO WEATHERFORD IN PARKER COUNTY. THE RAIL LINE RAN THROUGH WISE COUNTY AND CAME WITHIN ONE MILE OF PARADISE. THE RAILROAD WAS A PROFOUND INFLUENCE ON THE SURROUNDING TOWNS. BECAUSE OF THE SHORT DISTANCE TO THE RAILROAD, RESIDENCES AND BUSINESSES BEGAN MOVING NORTHEASTWARD TO BE CLOSER TO THE LINE. BY THE EARLY 1900s, "NEW" PARADISE WAS WELL UNDER WAY WITH CHURCHES, HOTELS, A NEW CITY WELL AND SHOPS. BY 1927, MANY OF THE COTTON CROPS HAD BEEN DESTROYED AND "OLD" PARADISE CAME TO AN END. THE ONLY REMAINING STRUCTURE IN OLD TOWN PARADISE IS A PRIVATE HOME BUILT BY CONFEDERATE LIEUTENANT WILLIAM HALL JAY, WHO IS BURIED IN THE PARADISE CEMETERY. THE HOME SITS ON A CORNER JUST SOUTH OF THE OLD TOWN SQUARE AND IS A CONSTANT REMINDER OF AN EARLIER TIME. (2014)