Paradise museum holds treasures of Utah’s pioneer past
November 15th, 2009 Posted in Arts and LifeStory and photos by Seili Lewis
PARADISE–One of the first structures that catch the eye as a driver enters the town of Paradise is the old tithing office building, now used to house a museum run by the society of the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers (D.U.P.). 
The building is a beautiful edifice of red brick, which according to the Utah historic site sign came from a brickyard in Hyrum, one of the first brickyards in Cache Valley. The building is owned by the city of Paradise and the D.U.P. was able to lease it for a special offer of $1 for 99 years.
The building is filled to bursting with artifacts donated by residents of Paradise and Cache Valley. Many of the pieces in the museum came from Avon where the citizens of paradise had originally settled, but due to issues with the Shoshone Indians the citizens put their houses on wagons and moved them to Paradise where they settled.
Most of the artifacts are from the pioneers who settled in Cache Valley, but others are from a later generation. There are two handmade flags that were made to commemorate the citizens who served in both World War I and II. The flags have blue stars for
the citizens who served and yellow for citizens who lost their lives in service, and one red star for the only female citizen from the area who served in World War II. The names of the citizens were stitched on the stars, and the red star bears the name Virginia Allen.
There are a wide array of artifacts: wedding dresses, a pump organ from the Avon church and a waffle iron. Doris Butt, captain of the D.U.P. in Paradise, said her favorite is a glass dish with a picture of the Salt Lake Temple, of which there are only seven left and were only 14 in existence. The dish is unique because the picture of the temple was created from artists’ sketches and the Angel Moroni on the top of the temple is flying horizontally rather than standing vertically, which was the way the angel is on the completed temple.
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Tags: DUP museum, history, Paradise
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