Paradise Map
Paradise is a city in Russell County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 49.
In 1859, a hunting party explored the area, including a small tributary of the Saline River which led them to a site abundant in water, timber, and bison. One of the hunters, James R. Mead, described the site as paradise, and the tributary subsequently became known as Paradise Creek. The first post office in the area opened under the name Paradise in 1875. In 1887, the Union Townsite Company established a town on the north side of the creek northwest of the post office, naming it Ivamar after Iva Marr, the popular and beautiful daughter of a local rancher. The Paradise post office relocated to Ivamar the next year, but kept its name. As a result, the town came to be known by both names; in 1891, the Union Pacific Railroad listed its rail stop there as Paradise with Ivamar in parentheses. The community grew through the 1890s to include a school, downtown businesses, and railroad facilities, reaching a population of 200 by 1910. Ivamar incorporated in 1924 and finally changed its name to Paradise. The population of the community has gradually declined since the 1930s.
Paradise is located at 39°6?56?N 98°55?3?W / 39.11556°N 98.9175°W / 39.11556; -98.9175 (39.115445, -98.917428) at an elevation of 1,693 feet (516 m). It lies in the Smoky Hills region of the Great Plains approximately 6 miles (10 km) north of the Saline River on the north side of Paradise Creek, a tributary of the Saline, immediately west of the creek's confluence with Eagle Creek, which runs south along the city's east side. Located in north-central Kansas 3.5 miles (5.6 km) west of U.S. Route 281 on Kansas Highway 18 (K-18), Paradise is approximately 127 miles (205 km) northwest of Wichita, 233 miles (375 km) west of Kansas City, and 15 miles (25 km) north-northwest of Russell, the county seat.
Nearby cities include Luray, Russell, Gorham, Natoma.