Paradise, Michigan
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Paradise is an unincorporated community in Whitefish Township, Chippewa County in the U.S. state of Michigan.
Paradise is on the northeastern portion of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, on the western side of Whitefish Bay, Lake Superior, about 60 miles by road from Sault Ste. Marie and about 55 miles north of the Mackinac Bridge. Its postal code is 49768, and the area code and telephone prefix are (906) and 492 respectively. Founded in 1925, Paradise is surrounded by state and national forests and its main business is tourism. It is considered one of two gateways to the Tahquamenon Falls area and Tahquamenon Falls State Park. (The other gateway is Newberry, about 40 miles to the southwest.) The area draws hunters, fishers, campers, backpackers, snowmobilers and birdwatchers. The region harvests blueberries and cranberries in season. Lake Superior shipping lanes are several miles off shore.
Whitefish Point with the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum, beach, Whitefish Point Lighthouse and prime birding area, is 11 miles north. Whitefish Point is the spot where ships enter the open lake from Whitefish Bay. This is the nearest navigation mark to the wreckage of the ore freighter SS Edmund Fitzgerald, which sank in 1975.
Marco Smithfield, the tenth American to win the grand prize on ABC's game show Who Wants to be a Millionaire, lived in Paradise at the time of his winnings (and still lives there).
John Dreves, known as the “Can Man” from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, is from Paradise. Dreves collects, sorts and redeems cans to help fund local athletics. In the past four years, he has contributed more than $10,000 to Whitefish Township Community School and its 55 K-12 students. Providing new uniforms, equipment and transportation, Dreves has also been named the “Paradise Angel.” John was featured on ESPN`s Outside the Lines.
The Sufjan Stevens album Greetings from Michigan contains a song entitled "For The Widows In Paradise, For the Fatherless in Ypsilanti."
[edit] See also
- Hell, Michigan. Popular legend erroneously states that it is 666 miles away from Paradise, but the two towns are only 294 miles away from each other.
[edit] External links
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