Eldorado, Illinois
| Eldorado | |
| City | |
 According to the 1945 Film Daily Yearbook, the 500-seat Grand was one of three movie houses in operation at that time, which also included the Orpheum and the Knox. Today the former Grand is used as a meeting place for a fraternal order. | |
| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| State | Illinois |
| County | Saline |
| Elevation | 390 ft (119 m) |
| Coordinates | 37°48′51″N 88°26′27″W / 37.81417°N 88.44083°W |
| Area | 2.43 sq mi (6 km2) |
| - land | 2.39 sq mi (6 km2) |
| - water | 0.04 sq mi (0 km2) |
| Population | 4,122 (2010) |
| Density | 1,967.8 / sq mi (760 / km2) |
| Timezone | CST (UTC-6) |
| - summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) |
| Postal code | 62930 |
| Area code | 618 |
| FIPS code | 17-23009 |
| GNIS ID | 2394639 |
   Location of Eldorado within Illinois
| |
| Wikimedia Commons: Eldorado, Illinois | |
Eldorado (
i/ɛldəˈreɪdoʊ/ or /ɛldəˈreɪdə/) is a city in Saline County, Illinois, United States. The population was 4,122 at the 2010 census, with a 1925 peak of 8,000. Although the city's name is spelled as if it were Spanish, the name was originally "Elder-Reado"—a combination of the last names of the town's two founders,[1] Judge Samuel Elder and Joseph Read. According to legend, a signpainter for the railroad painted the name "Eldorado" on the train depot; as a result, the spelling and pronunciation was forever changed. Eldorado was also historically a Sundown Town, with a disparaging sign toward African American's placed outside its borders until the mid-1970s.
Eldorado is included in the Illinois-Indiana-Kentucky Tri-State Area and is a bedroom community in the Harrisburg Micropolitan Statistical Area.[2]
History
In September, 1963, five months before The Beatles' first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show brought them stardom in the United States, George Harrison performed at the Veterans of Foreign Wars hall in Eldorado with a local band. This was the first performance by a Beatle in the United States. At the time, Harrison and his brother were visiting their sister, Louise, who had recently relocated with her husband to nearby Benton.[3]
At one time there was an extensive maze of railroad tracks that arched out from the town's center. All but one are now replaced with bike trails.
In 1946, the adjacent village of Beulah Heights disincorporated and annexed to Eldorado.[4]
Geography
Eldorado is located at 37°48′51″N 88°26′27″W / 37.81417°N 88.44083°W (37.814212, -88.440937).[5]
According to the 2010 census, the city has a total area of 2.43 square miles (6.3 km2), of which 2.39 square miles (6.2 km2) (or 98.35%) is land and 0.04 square miles (0.10 km2) (or 1.65%) is water.[6]
The junction of the pioneer Kaskaskia and Goshen Trails was located just south of the city. The Goshen Trail began in Old Shawneetown, Illinois and ran along the east side of Eldorado and on to the Goshen Settlement, a community near the present day East St. Louis.
Demographics
According to the 2010 census[7], there were 4,122 people living within the city limits. Of the 4,078 persons who identified with one race, 4,010 (97.8%) were white, 33 (0.5%) were black or African-American, 9 American Indian, 4 Asian, 3 Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islanders, and 19 who claimed some other race. The Hispanic population was 52 (1.0 percent). There were 2,053 total housing units; 1,796 (87.5%) were occupied and 257 (12.5%) vacant.
Media
Eldorado is home to one of the smallest daily newspapers in the United States, The Eldorado Daily Journal (circulation 1,200), which is a sister publication to Harrisburg's The Daily Register.[citation needed]
Health care
In 1925, Dr. J.V. Ferrell founded Ferrell Hospital, which exists today as a 52-bed facility operated by Southern Illinois Healthcare. Effective March 1, 2004, SIH entered into an agreement with Alliant Management Services to return the hospital to local ownership and governance. On April 1, 2005, Ferrell Hospital Community Foundation became a stand alone facility managed by Alliant Management Services.[citation needed]
Sports
Eldorado holds a few records within the Illinois High School Association (IHSA). Two all-time scorers Mike Duff (2,113 points) and Cody Lane (2,006 points) grew up here, and Roger Grumley and Eric Brannock of the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame were born in Eldorado.[citation needed]
Notable people
- Todd Duffee, record holder for the Ultimate Fighting Championship's fastest knockout; grew up in Eldorado.[citation needed]
- Dave Sanders, a teacher who was killed in the Columbine High School massacre in 1999. He was born in Eldorado.
James Barnett, co-founder of Xilinx, a leading Silicon Valley semiconductor company (field programmable gate arrays), grew up in Eldorado and graduated from Eldorado High School http://engineering.illinois.edu/alumni/halloffame/2012/barnett-james
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xilinx
References
- ↑ Gannett, Henry (1905). The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States. Govt. Print. Off. p. 116.
- ↑ "Annual Estimates of the Population of Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Areas: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2007 (CBSA-EST2007-01)" (CSV). 2007 Population Estimates. United States Census Bureau, Population Division. March 27, 2008. Retrieved July 3, 2008.
- ↑ Daily Register Newspaper
- ↑ 1951. Number of Inhabitants: Illinois. Washington D.C.: U.S. Dept. of Commerce/Bureau of the Census. 13-24.
- ↑ "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. 2011-02-12. Retrieved 2011-04-23.
- ↑ "Places: Illinois". 2010 Census Gazetteer Files. United States Census Bureau. Retrieved May 3, 2012.
- ↑ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
External links
- Eldorado Memorial Public Library District
- Eldorado Community Unit School District 4
- Eldorado Main Street
- Eldorado Historical Museum
- Egyptian Health Department
- The Deadly Dr. Dale Part 1
- The Deadly Dr. Dale Part 2
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