El Dorado, California facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
El Dorado
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Poor Red's Bar-B-Q in downtown El Dorado
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 El Dorado
Location in California
El Dorado
Location in the United States
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| Country | United States |
| State | California |
| County | El Dorado County |
| Elevation | 1,608 ft (490 m) |
| Population
(2010)
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| • Total | 4,096 |
| Official name: El Dorado California | |
| Reference #: | 486 |
| Official name: El Dorado-Nevada House | |
| Reference #: | 700 |
El Dorado (Spanish for "The Golden") is an unincorporated community in El Dorado County, California. It is located 4 miles (6.4 km) southwest of Placerville, at an elevation of 1608 feet (490 m). The population was 4,096 at the 2000 census. The town is registered as California Historical Landmark #486. The ZIP code is 95623. The community is inside area code 530.
History
El Dorado, "The Gilded One", was first known as Mud Springs from the boggy quagmire the cattle and horses made of a nearby watering place. Originally an important camp on the old Carson Trail, by 1849-50 it had become the center of a mining district and the crossroads for freight and stagecoach lines. At the height of the rush its large gold production supported a population of several thousand. It was incorporated as the town of El Dorado in 1856. El Dorado was a station of the Central Overland Pony Express. On April 13, 1860, William (Sam) Hamilton, a pony rider, changed horses at the Nevada House, he was carrying the first westbound mail of the Pony Express from St. Joseph, Missouri to Sacramento.
The first post office in Mud Spring was opened in 1851, the name was changed to El Dorado in 1855. The town incorporated in 1855 and disincorporated in 1857.
In 1945, a bar in an 1850s building, originally a Wells Fargo weigh station, was converted into roadside barbecue joint, called Poor Red’s Bar-B-Q. Because the town is roughly halfway between San Francisco and Lake Tahoe, drivers - including the Rat Pack - frequently stopped there.
