Paraíso, Panamá Province

It was visited mostly during the isthmus' dry season and it was said that from the hill overlooking Paraiso, the tower of old Panama City's cathedral, eight miles away, could be seen on a clear day.

Decauville dumping cars continued to carry soil out of the area for years, though by the end of the 19th century, canal works were little more than a token effort and the population of Paraiso was about 800, living in 125 frame houses and 100 huts.

In 1905, a Coca-Cola bottling plant was established in the town to take advantage of the pure water in the nearby Paraiso natural spring.

The bottling plant was eventually sold to the Panama Coca-Cola Company and moved out of Paraiso at the end of the construction era.

Camp Paraiso became home to troops of the Fifth Infantry, who built barracks, quarters, a post exchange and a movie theater.

The Army theater and post exchange became the town’s clubhouse, the commissary was reopened and a new school was built for the elementary grades.

It was the first of the Canal Zone’s civic centers to be built for that purpose, and included a post office, first aid station, luncheonette and meeting room.

By the mid-1980s, the town ceased to be served by the Panama Railroad, which fell into complete disrepair after being transferred to the Panamanian state as a public entity.

Though the Panama Railroad, under private administration, has now resumed service, it no longer stops in Paraiso or Pedro Miguel, whose PR station was demolished in the late 1990s.