Paradise, a town (pop. 600 in 1959; pop. 1,028 in 2000) ten miles east-southeast of Lancaster, PA, the center of an old and large Mennonite (Mennonite Church) community. This was the home of Tanawa, King of the Pequea Indians, and Madame Ferree, a French Huguenot. So beautiful was the sight of this town (a town that cannot be improved) that in 1804 they called it Paradise, and made it a post office on the Lancaster-Philadelphia coach route. David Witmer's hostelry, the schoolhouse, and the later Mennonite church were important points in the early town. Not only were the Mennonites of the vicinity prosperous farmers, but they certainly aided in putting this clean small town on the map. There is a Mennonite meetinghouse (Paradise Mennonite Church) in the town.

Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Scottdale, Pennsylvania, and Waterloo, Ontario, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, p. 116. All rights reserved. For information on ordering the encyclopedia visit the Herald Press website.

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