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28 McNamara Drive Paradise, A1L 0A6

Newfoundland Tourism Region : Avalon

Paradise: Located on the west side of the Avalon Peninsula, now amalgamated with the community of St. Thomas, which was named to commemorate the local parish priest, Thomas OConner, has a combined population in 2016, a total of 21,269, a 20.9% increase over 2011, in which 17,695 residents were recorded.

According to the towns website, it is one of the fastest-growing municipality in Atlantic Canada with the youngest average-aged population in Newfoundland and Labrador. According to local lore, the Rev. Mr. Colley, a Church of England clergyman living in nearby Topsail was asked to "minister" to the people in the area; as he wanted to list the community in the Parish Register, he asked what the towns name was.

At that time, it was "nameless", but someone was reported to say that compared to the nearby community of Upper Island Cove that it was "paradise" - and the name stuck. Others though dismiss this story and believe the name was purely Colley''''s invention; others suggest that it was the invention of a local politician.

There are many communities in both Newfoundland and Labrador that are either called "Paradise" or in some cases "Paradise" is part of the place names, such as the case in Paradise Sound and Paradise River. Hamilton (1996) suggests that the use of the word "paradise" is probably either simply euphemistic or use to create a good impression.

Paradise Sound, Paradise River (one of them is on the island, the other is in Labrador), Little Paradise and Great Paradise are (or were) all on the west side of Placentia Bay. Hamilton (1996) suggested that the name of these communities could possibly be traced to the town of Paradis on Guernsey, in the Channel Islands, even though the earliest settlers were from West Country England.

In this case, local lore suggest that the town took its name from the topography of the land. The area is surrounded by several shoals and islands, and as a result it was "paradise" because it was "difficult to get in". Paradise was "resettled" in the mid-1960s with most of the town folk moving to Placentia.

Used with permission from "Uncovering the Origin of 1001 Unique Place Names in Newfoundland and Labrador" 2021 Jennifer Leigh Hill

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