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The town of Paonia is an interesting place, not only because of its many churches, friendly people, mining industry and beautiful landscape. In this section we list some of these things that are definitely worth your attention.

Paonia has an incredible number of churches. There is about 30 churches in the town, which include for example First Christian Church, United Methodist Church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Sacred Heart Catholic Church, St. Michale's Episcopal Church, Bible Center Church, Paonia Assembly of God, Church of Christ, Friends Chruch and Church of the Nazarene. Paonia was at one time in the Guiness Book of World Record as a town with the largest number of churches in the world.

Mining is the largest industry in Paonia; about 27% of men population of Paonia work at the coal mines located near Somerset, a town few miles from Paonia. The underground miners are required to be at least 18 years old, pass physical examination and pre-employment drug testing. The wages vary, but coal mining is one of the best paying jobs in the town. There are several different mines in the North Fork Valley, including

People in Paonia are very friendly, which makes the town a good place to live. As of the census the population in 2000 was determined to be 1,497 people. Population density was an average of 1,972.3/mi, that is 760.5/km. Out of 631 households in Paonia, around 29% had children under 18 years old living at home with their parents, married couples living together made up 48% of population, 11% hooseholds had a woman at home with no husband, and 37% were non-families. Around 34% of all households were made up of individuals and in 15% there was someone ove 65 years old. 393 families in total were living in the town: average family size was 2.95 people.

The median age in the year 2000 in Paonia was 41 years. For every 100 females there was 93.4 males, for every 100 females over the age of 18, there was 89 males.

Paonia was first explored in the year 1853 by Captain John Gunnison of the United States Army who was on an expedition to locate a pass through the Rocky Mountains. North Fork Valley, in which the town lies, was inhabited by Ute Indians until 1880. Then the reservation was closed by the federal government. In 1880, the site was settled by William Clark and Samuel Wade, who were travelling with Enos Hotchkiss. Officially, Paonia was founded in 1902 and in July of the same year had its first election. The town was named after a flower "peony", which is a flower that can be easily found in Paonia.

Paonia is located in Rocky Mountains range in Western Colorado, about 70 miles east from Grand Junction, the largest city in the Western Slope. The town is found in the North Fork Valley, together with Hotchkiss and Somerset. The North Fork Gunnison River passes through Paonia and the whole North Fork Valley, which gives the area good conditions for fruit growing. Paonia lies at the foot of Mount Lamborn (with elevation of 11,397 ft), a dominating feature of the whole valley. Total area of the town is 2.0 km² (0.8 mi²). Paonia belongs to Delta County, with the center of Delta City. Latitude of Paonia is 38.838N, longitude 107.591W. The town is in the Mountain Standard time zone, climate is mild with hot summers and mild winters. Elevation of the town is 5,682 feet.

Race	Amount of people
White	96.46%
African American	0.07%
Native American	0.47%
Asian	0.20%
Other race	1.74%
Hispanic/Latino	1.07%

Age	Amount of people
under 18	24%
18 - 24	7%
25 - 44	25%
45 - 64	22%
65 and older	22%