Story of the Paradise Park area which once was the site of a paper mill established after the sawmill there first. The paper mill supplied highly sought after product to San Francisco in 1860. After the founder Van Valkenburgh died in a freak accident the property was bought by John H. Baird to turn it into a Powder Mill, using many of the existing infrastructures and buildings. The Powder Mill made gunpowder used in the Civil War and was in operation until 1914. One of the biggest explosions that killed several workers occurred at the site but in general Santa Cruz was sheltered from the noise and operations. Eventually the property was bought by Arthur M. Say, a mason, and eventually became a residential area.