Wise County
The following was supplied to me by Lillian Farmer, US Post Master in Paradise Texas. Note: I will provide more information as I receive it. My apologies to anyone that I have not identified as sources of data as I am only working with the information that I have. The data are photocopies taken from a book or books located at the Wise County museum.
What "Paradise Lost" in 1893 when the Rock Island Railroad by-passed the community six miles south of Bridgeport, "Paradise Regained" in the late 1950's when oil and gas activity sprang up in Wise county.
Before 1893, the area know as Paradise was called Paradise Prairie, Old Town, Old Paradise, New Town and Eldorado. The community, by whatever name it was called, was located one mile southwest of the present town site.. It was on a square surrounded by dry goods stores, two lumber yards, a State and national bank, barber shop, drug store, two saloons, a blacksmith shop, cotton gin, an icehouse, ice cream parlor, a rooming house, telephone office, livery stable, wood yard, movie house, stockyard and four doctors.
A stagecoach, which crossed Paradise on its run from Gainesville to Weatherford, carried mail and passengers in and out of the area. The PARADISE ECHO was later to become the current WISE COUNTY MESSENGER, the counties leading newspaper.
Near the turn of the century, cotton fields, long infested with boll weevils, gave way to cattle ranges; blacksmith shops were replaced with filling stations and horseback transportation by the Model A Ford. Row crop fields were transplanted into hay fields and dairying became a leading industry. The old town of Paradise followed the railroad to a New Paradise located at it's present location.
A long depression and a war forced many Paradise residents to seek employment in manufacturing and defense plants in Fort Worth. Soon explorations in the area provided what had become suspected- oil was under those cotton fields and cattle pastures. The industry began to bolster Paradise's economy and the town, although it did not grow size wise to any great extent, became the home for many persons seeking quiet and peace from the city's hustle and bustle.
Since Paradise doesn't have any famous restaurants, or even a cafe hidden in the woods, some might find it surprising that so many in the area stop in Paradise for lunch. But those surprised by the fact have never tasted the BBQ prepared each day at Ray's Grocery, owned and operated by Hubert Ray of Bridgeport. "Ray cooks up the best tastin' bar-b-que this side of the Pecos," said one of Ray's regulars.
Anything you want to know about Paradise "just talk to Miss Anna" would be the answer folks in the small town would give. Miss Anna Potts has lived all of her life in Paradise. Her parents owned the first hotel in town. "the Atkins House" they fed and gave lodging to the crew of men who built the railroad. The day the railroad was completed and the first train pulled in was "such a joyous day," Miss Anna said. "The train pulled in with bells ringing and horns blowing." Paradise began to grow on then. "We even had a horse-drawn hearse to carry our loved ones to the cemetery." Much of Paradise was destroyed by fires because there was no fire fighting equipment. "We only had a bucket brigade from a windmill that furnished the water supply."
Just five miles from Paradise is Cottondale, the areas oldest settlement. It was platted by B.F. Banks. In this little town there was once a man who drove a fancy 16-cylinder Cadillac some times, but other times he was seen around the country in a Model A Ford. All the people around thought of him being very friendly and honest. His closest friend was one of the most thought-of men in the town of Cottondale. These two men became very famous. Their names were "Machine gun Kelly and Boss Shannon." In the cemetery just a few feet separating their graves lie both men- killed by the police as bank robbers. Machine Gun Kelly got his name because he could write his name on a billboard with a machine gun. As I later found out , this was not all completely true as this article had indicated. George died while in the pen and Boss Shannon died in the Bridgeport Hospital in 1956. I have visited both grave sites - George's larger stone was missing as everyone kept trying to steal a piece of history. In it's place is just a small monument located in the Kelley and Shannon area. These are two pictures that I took in Jan of 2003. I visited the Urshcel kidnap site as well as Boss's old house. The house where Boss entertained his guest hoodlams and kept Urshcel was over a 100 years old and has now disentigrated. It is now the site of new 5 acre homes. Shannon's wooden house has now been bricked over and occupied. These are all within a mile of the Garrett Creek Ranch.
In the Paradise cemetery is buried DR. M.W. Matthew's who treated General Sam Houston's wounds after the Battle of San Jacinto. He was an Army Surgeon in the Texas Republic and took part in the Mexican Boundary War of 1846. He also served in the Civil War on the Union' side.
The first post office in Paradise was moved from the little town of Draco in 1889. The present postmaster is on one of our contributors Floyd R. Fuqua.(This article was prepared in the 1980s) The 1981 school superintendent is Dr. Bobby Bain. Dr D.C. Sipes of Sublexation Ranch on Route 1, Paradise, has some burros that had been born in the Grand Canyon. The burros were so numerous there and caused an erosion problem that the government gave them to people who had room to properly take care of them.
"A little town is where few people can get away lying about the year they were born. Too many other people remember."
" A little town is where, when you get the wrong number, you can talk for fifteen minutes anyhow."
Contributor Floyd R. Fuqua Postmaster.
PARADISE INFO FROM ANOTHER SOURCE
As far back as the late eighteen hundreds, church members led services in various homes and buildings in "Old Town" Approximately one and on-half miles south-west of the present location of Paradise, Texas. Later the building of the Rock Island Railroad in 1893 served as the local force for moving the towns location nearer the railroad.
The town, first named Elderado, then Paradise Prairie and finally Paradise, was the location of the building for the First Christian Church, the first and only of it's denomination in Paradise to this day.
In the turn of the nineteenth century, three local men became the original trustees an were initially responsible for securing and purchasing the land and constructing the building for the church. M.D. Cansler, owner of a grocery and a dry good store, borrowed money from individuals using the sixty-five acres of land as security. S.L. Atkins was the owner of a three story boarding house called "City Hotel" which he sold to Jasper Lynch, to accept the position of superintendent of Paradise schools. The boarding house later burned in 1904 and was rebuilt by Tom Brackett. The third trustee was Fred Harms, land owner and cotton farmer.
The original church structure still stands unaltered on a corner lot on the main street of Paradise. The land consists of four original lots, including a fifth lot purchased later. The original four lots were purchased for the sum of fifty-five dollars. Deeds recorded in the County clerks Office, Wise County Court House, Decatur, Texas, July 8th, 1908.
The building, constructed by Will Plymell, is of Gothic architectural design. The floor plan resembles a cross with the pulpit area shaped like an apses. The white wooden frame is enhanced by fourteen stained glass windows of Gothic arch design. The steeple still houses the original church bell, the only one in the town today. Three sycamore trees, planted eighty years ago by S.L. Atkins, today stand approximately seventy-five feet high in the church-yard casting shadows across the entrance.
Repairs, landscaping and a new coat of paint has once again revitalized the appearance of the building along with donations from church members and interested parties outside and within the community. The Leone Foundation found by Mary Louise Potts Leone, granddaughter of S.L. Atkins. Provides substantial yearly donation. A baseball diamond and community park on Highway 114 is named after Mary.
The members of the First Christian church continue to possess the same determination to maintain a place of worship, not only for themselves, but for generations to come, as did the founding fathers nearly a century ago.
As a service to the people of nearby Cottondale I have included the following information. The small town of Aurora also stands close and supposedly has an alien buried there from a rocket ship that crashed there back in the 1800s.
A Brief History of Cottondale, Texas.
The town was established prior to 1875. The Post Office was established September 17, 1875. The following men served as postmaster at Cottondale in order.
1. A.J. Gibson Sep 1875
2. John T. Bridge Dec 13, 1875
3. Henry M. Embory Jan 16, 1877
4. Joseph Ferguson June 18, 1877
5. Benjamin B. Banks Mar 25, 1878
6. Charles Wilson Jan 20, 1886
7. Fred Swift Aug 1,1888
8. James A. Barnett Jan 19,1889
9. John R. Baker Sep 12, 1889
10. Willis S. Green Jun 28, 1892
11. Riley P. Cochran Sep 24 1897
12. Thomas L. Taylor Jun 3, 1902
13. Horace M. Kelley Feb 17, 1906
14. Robert H. Bridges Apr 20,1907
The Post Office was discontinued February 29, 1912. The mail was then delivered out of Paradise, Texas. The rural route established out of Cottondale on September 1, 1904.
The first rural carrier out of Cottondale was William E. Munn. Second rural carrier was James K. Patterson. The rural route was discontinued February 28, 1907. The mail being delivered by rural route out of Paradise.
At one time there were three general stores, a drug store, courthouse, barber shop, blacksmith shop, cotton gin, grist mill, school, Masonic lodge, Woodmen of the World Lodge and two churches- Baptist and Church of Christ. Today they have a grocery store, filling station and firehall.
The best kept cemetery anywhere to be found is here. The year 1985, it will be 100 years old. The following doctors have practiced medicine here in Cottondale. Dr. Morton, Lasiter, Petty and Roberson.
The preceding was retyped from a document given to me by Lillian Farmer. August 1998. (Mike Anderson