El Dorado [Span.,=the gilded man], legendary country of the Golden Man sought by adventurers in South America. The legend supposedly originated in a custom of the Chibcha people of Colombia who each year anointed a chieftain and rolled him in gold, which he then ceremonially washed off in a sacred lake, casting offerings of emeralds and gold into the waters at the same time. This custom had apparently disappeared long before the coming of the conquistadors, but the tales lived on and grew into a legend of a land of gold and plenty. Gonzalo Pizarro and Francisco de Orellana set out in quest for it, the latter drifting down the length of the Amazon River in the process. From the middle of the 16th cent. a series of adventurers searched for El Dorado and its fabulous variants—Omagua, the Land of Cinnamon, or the golden land of Manoa. El Dorado passed into European literature and found its way to the maps. The conquistadors of Venezuela and New Granada—Federmann, Benalcázar, and Jiménez de Quesada—all searched for El Dorado. Perhaps best known to English-speaking peoples is the expedition of Sir Walter Raleigh in 1595. The location of the mythical land shifted as new regions were explored, and similar legends appeared in W United States. Cabeza de Vaca told of the Seven Cities of Cibola; interest in these treasure-laden cities reached a peak with the stories of Fray Marcos de Niza and culminated in a tremendous but fruitless expedition under Francisco Vásquez de Coronado. El Dorado is used figuratively to mean any place of fabulous wealth, a utopian dream, or the land of desire.

El Dorado, city (1990 pop. 23,146), seat of Union co., S central Ark; inc. 1845. The discovery of oil in 1921 made it the oil center of the state. The city has oil refineries, chemical plants, and poultry-packing houses, as well as diverse manufactures.

El Dorado County is a county located in the Gold Country of the U.S. state of California, in the Sierra Nevada. Its 2004 population was estimated to be 172,889, its 2000 population was 156,299. The county seat is Placerville.

Much of the population of El Dorado County has become suburbanized, as the Sacramento Metropolitan Statistical Area area has expanded. In addition, the population of the Lake Tahoe area has also boomed recently.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 156,299 people, 58,939 households, and 43,025 families residing in the county. The population density was 91 people per square mile (35/km²). There were 71,278 housing units at an average density of 42 per square mile (16/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 89.71% White, 0.52% Black or African American, 1.00% Native American, 2.13% Asian, 0.13% Pacific Islander, 3.55% from other races, and 2.96% from two or more races. 9.32% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 14.9% were of German, 13.4% English, 10.3% Irish, 6.6% Italian and 6.6% American ancestry according to Census 2000. 90.5% spoke English and 6.5% Spanish as their first language.

There were 58,939 households out of which 34.2% had kids under the age of 18 living with them, 60.1% were married couples living together, 8.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.0% were non-families. 20.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.63 and the average family size was 3.04.

In the county the population was spread out with 26.1% under the age of 18, 6.8% from 18 to 24, 27.8% from 25 to 44, 26.9% from 45 to 64, and 12.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 99.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.3 males.

The 2000 census also states that the median income for a household in the county was $51,484, and the median income for a family was $60,250. Males had a median income of $46,373 versus $31,537 for females. The per capita income for the county was $25,560. About 5.0% of families and 7.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.6% of those under age 18 and 5.0% of those age 65 or over.

Politics

Presidential election results

Year	GOP	DEM	Others
2004	61.2% 52,878	37.3% 32,242	1.4% 1,244
2000	58.3% 42,045	36.4% 26,220	5.4% 3,871
1996	51.8% 32,759	36.3% 22,957	11.8% 7,480
1992	39.9% 25,906	32.4% 21,012	27.7% 17,969
1988	59.3% 30,021	39.1% 19,801	1.5% 781
1984	64.9% 27,583	33.7% 14,312	1.4% 583
1980	58.3% 21,238	29.5% 10,765	12.2% 4,446
1976	47.7% 12,472	48.8% 12,763	3.5% 919
1972	54.2% 11,330	41.4% 8,654	4.4% 921
1968	49.0% 1,719	39.7% 6,054	11.3% 1,719
1964	39.5% 5,775	60.3% 8,810	0.2% 25
1960	49.2% 6,065	50.1% 6,175	0.8% 97

El Dorado is a strongly Republican county in Presidential and congressional elections. The last Democrat to win a majority in the county was Lyndon Johnson in 1964.

El Dorado is part of California's 4th congressional district, which is held by Republican John Doolittle. In the State Assembly, El Dorado is part of the 4th district, which is held by Republican Ted Gaines. In the State Senate, El Dorado is part of the 1st district, which is held by Republican Dave Cox.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,788 square miles (4,631 km²), of which, 1,711 square miles (4,431 km²) of it is land and 77 square miles (200 km²) of it (4.32%) is water.

El Dorado County contains the Desolation Wilderness, with Freel Peak as its highest point at 10,881 feet.

Cities and towns

Incorporated Cities

• South Lake Tahoe (Airport: Lake Tahoe Airport IATA: TVL)
• Placerville (County Seat)

Communities over 10,000 population

• El Dorado Hills
• Cameron Park

Communities under 10,000 population

• Camino
• Camp Sacramento
• Coloma
• Cool
• Diamond Springs
• El Dorado
• Garden Valley
• Georgetown
• Grizzly Flats
• Happy Valley
• Meyers
• Mosquito
• Mt. Aukum
• Outingdale
• Phillips
• Pilot Hill
• Pollock Pines
• Rescue
• Shingle Springs
• Somerset
• Strawberry
• Twin Bridges

The county is also home to the Heavenly Ski Resort and the Sierra-At-Tahoe Ski Resort.

Adjacent counties

• Alpine County, California - southeast
• Amador County, California - south
• Sacramento County, California - west
• Placer County, California - north
• Douglas County, Nevada - northeast

Transportation infrastructure

Major highways

• U.S. Route 50
• State Route 49
• State Route 89
• State Route 193

Public transportation

• runs local service in Placerville and surrounding areas (as far east as Pollock Pines). Commuter service into Sacramento and Folsom is also provided.
• BlueGo is the transit operator for the South Lake Tahoe area. Service also runs into the state of Nevada.

Airports

General aviation airports are include: Placerville Airport, Georgetown Airport, Cameron Airpark and Lake Tahoe Airport.

Asbestos

Portions of El Dorado county are known to contain natural asbestos formations near the surface. The USGS studied amphiboles in rock and soil in the area in response to an EPA sampling study and subsequent criticism of the EPA study. The study found that many amphibole particles in the area meet the counting rule criteria used by the EPA for chemical and morphological limits, but do not meet morphological requirements for commercial-grade-asbestos. The executive summary pointed out that even particles that do not meet requirements for commercial-grade-asbestos may be a health threat and suggested a collaborative research effort to assess health risks associated with "Naturally Occurring Asbestos".

In 2003 after construction of the Oak Ridge High school soccer field, the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry found that some student athletes, coaches and school workers received substantial exposures. The inside of Oak Ridge High School needed to be cleaned of dust.

References

External links

• El Dorado County website
• El Dorado County Historical Museum website
• El Dorado Environmental air quality management - Naturally occurring asbestos information
• El Dorado County Weather
• El Dorado County Visitors Authority
• El Dorado Western Railway Foundation blog The railway is restoring the Diamond & Caldor No. 4 Shay locomotive at the El Dorado County Historical Museum