El Dorado County, California: Difference between revisions

'''El Dorado County''' ({{IPAc-en|ˌ|ɛ|l|_|d|ə|ˈ|r|ɑː|d|oʊ|audio=En-us-el dorado.ogg}}; ''El Dorado'', [[Spanish language|Spanish]] for "The Golden [one]"), officially the '''County of El Dorado''', is a [[List of counties in California|county]] located in the [[U.S. state]] of [[California]]. As of the [[2020 United States Census|2020 census]], the population was 191,185.<ref>{{Cite web|title=El Dorado County, California|url=https://data.census.gov/cedsci/profile?g=0500000US06017|website=[[United States Census Bureau]]|accessdate=January 30, 2022}}</ref> The [[county seat]] is [[Placerville, California|Placerville]].<ref name="GR6">{{cite web |url=http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx |access-date=June 7, 2011 |title=Find a County |publisher=National Association of Counties |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120712220218/http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx |archive-date=July 12, 2012 }}</ref> The county is part of the [[Sacramento, California|Sacramento]]-[[Roseville, California|Roseville]]-[[Arden-Arcade, California|Arden-Arcade]], CA [[Greater Sacramento|Metropolitan Statistical Area]]. It is located entirely in the [[Sierra Nevada (U.S.)|Sierra Nevada]], from the historic [[Gold Country]] in the western foothills to the High Sierra in the east. El Dorado County's population has grown as Greater Sacramento has expanded into the region. Where the county line crosses US 50 at Clarksville, the distance to Sacramento is {{convert|15|mi}}. In the county's high altitude eastern end at [[Lake Tahoe]], environmental awareness and environmental protection initiatives have grown along with the population since the [[1960 Winter Olympics]], hosted at the former [[Palisades Tahoe|Squaw Valley Ski Resort]] in neighboring [[Placer County]].

What is now known as El Dorado County has been home to the [[Maidu]], [[Nisenan]], [[Washoe people|Washoe]], and [[Miwok]] [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Indigenous American]] [[nation]]s for centuries. The region became famous for being the site of the 1848 discovery that sparked the [[California Gold Rush]]. As a result, the name "El Dorado" was derived from the Spanish word for, "The Gilded One.".<ref name="History">{{Cite web|url=http://www.cagenweb.com/eldorado/county-history/a_brief_history_of_el_dorad.html|title=Brief History of El Dorado County|website=El Dorado County GenWeb|date=August 1, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130401150415/http://www.cagenweb.com/eldorado/county-history/a_brief_history_of_el_dorad.html|archive-date=April 1, 2013|access-date=March 23, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> The County of El Dorado was one of California's original 27 counties created effective February 18, 1850 (the number has risen to 58 today). Its name is derived from the Spanish meaning "the gilded/golden".<ref name="Place_Names">{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ | title=The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States | publisher=Govt. Printing Office |author=Gannett, Henry |year=1905 |page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ/page/n114 116]}}</ref> The County of El Dorado was one of California's original 27 counties created effective February 18, 1850 (the number has risen to 58 today).

The final segments of the [[Pony Express]] mail route ran through El Dorado County until its replacement with the telegraph service in 1861; [[U.S. Route 50|U.S. Highway 50]] follows the Pony Express route today.

The [[Caldor Fire]] started on August 14, 2021, near Little Mountain, south of [[Pollock Pines, California|Pollock Pines]] in El Dorado County,<ref>{{cite web |website= Cal Fire|date= August 16, 2021|title= Caldor Fire Incident Update |url= https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/2021/8/14/caldor-fire/|publisher= State of California|access-date= September 1, 2021|quote=Situation Summary: The Caldor Fire started August 14, 2021 near Little Mountain, south of Pollock Pines in El Dorado County.}}</ref> about two{{convert|2|mi|spell=in}} miles Easteast of [[Omo Ranch, California|Omo Ranch]] and four miles{{convert|4|mi|spell=in}} south of [[Grizzly Flats, California|Grizzly Flats]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.kktv.com/2021/08/31/caldor-fire-177000-acres-burned-14-percent-contained/|title = CALDOR FIRE: 219,000+ acres, 68 percent contained}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=August 23, 2021|title=How did the Caldor Fire in California start?|url=https://en.as.com/en/2021/08/23/latest_news/1629747570_013201.html|access-date=September 23, 2021|website=AS.com|language=en}}</ref> It initially burned slowly, but exploded in size on August 16 due to high winds. By the night of August 16, it was {{convert|6500|acre|ha}}.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Stanton|first1=Sam|last2=McGough|first2=Michael|last3=Kasler|first3=Dale|last4=Ahumada|first4=Rosalio|date=August 18, 2021|url=https://www.modbee.com/news/california/fires/article253541414.html|title=Caldor Fire levels homes in Grizzly Flats, destroys school, church in El Dorado County|work=[[The Modesto Bee]]|access-date=September 6, 2021}}</ref> On August 17, the fire grew to {{convert|30000|acre|ha}} as it expanded rapidly north and east, crossing the North Fork Cosumnes River and approaching [[Sly Park Dam|Sly Park Reservoir]]. By August 20, the fire had burned nearly to [[U.S. HighwayRoute 50|Highway 50]], forcing a closure of the highway.<ref>{{Cite web|date=September 19, 2021|title=Caldor Fire Containment Remains at 71%|url=https://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2021/09/19/caldor-fire-updates-south-lake-tahoe-evacuated/|access-date=September 23, 2021|language=en-US}}</ref> Over the next few days, the fire crossed Highway 50 in the vicinity of [[Kyburz, California|Kyburz]]. Starting on August 27, winds drove the fire rapidly east towards the [[Lake Tahoe]] Basin. By August 30, it had reached [[Echo Summit]], less than {{convert|5|mi|kmspell=in}} from [[South Lake Tahoe, California|South Lake Tahoe]].

There are only two municipalities in El Dorado County: [[Placerville, California|Placerville]] and [[South Lake Tahoe]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.edcgov.us/Government/Pages/about_us.aspx|title=About Us|website=www.edcgov.us}}</ref>

{{unreferencedsection|date=July 2024}}

* James Hume (Feb 18, 1850 - November 7, 1852)

* Steven Charles Austin (Nov 7, 1852 - November 7, 1856)

* William Tanner Henson (Nov 7, 1856 - September 15, 1859) - Resigned

* Walter J. Burwell (Sep 15, 1859 - August 15, 1863) - Resigned

* Henry Gooding (Aug 15, 1863 - November 7, 1867)

* Jacob Hart Neff (Nov 7, 1867 - November 7, 1871)

* Charles Benjamin Dunnam (Nov 7, 1871 - November 7, 1875)

* Jason McCormick (Nov 7, 1875 - November 7, 1881)

* George Burnham (Nov 7, 1881 - November 7, 1883)

* Thomas Augustus Galt (Nov 7, 1883 - November 7, 1887)

* George H. Hilbert (Nov 7, 1887 - November 7, 1898)

* Archie Speer Bosquit (Nov 7, 1898 - November 7, 1907)

* Gilbert Cook (Nov 7, 1907 - May 9, 1912) - Suicide

* Albert George Bradshaw (May 9, 1912 - November 7, 1914)

* Charles E. Hand (Nov 7, 1914 - November 7, 1925)

* Charles F. Woods (Nov 7, 1925 - November 7, 1931)

* George Martin Smith Sr. (Nov 7, 1931 - November 7, 1941)

* Lowell Fred West (Nov 7, 1941 - November 7, 1949)

* Rowland Lee Morris (Nov 7, 1949 - November 7, 1955)

* Ernie Carlson (Nov 7, 1955 - November 7, 1965)

* Robert Mitchum (Nov 7, 1965 - November 7, 1971)

* Ernie Carlson (Nov 7, 1971 - November 7, 1975)

* Jeff Neves (Nov 7, 2001 - November 7, 2010)

* Jeff Leikauf (current, from January 3, 2023 - Present)

====Skiing====

====Racing====

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

!Race / Ethnicity <small>(''NH = Non-Hispanic'')</small>

!Pop 20102000<ref name=2010CensusP22000CensusP004>{{Cite web|title=P2P004: HISPANICHispanic ORor LATINOLatino, ANDand NOTNot HISPANICHispanic ORor LATINOLatino BYby RACERace -– 20102000: DEC RedistrictingSummary DataFile (PL1 94-171) -– El Dorado County, California|url=https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?q=p2&g=0500000US06017&tid=DECENNIALPL2010DECENNIALSF12000.P2P004|websitepublisher=[[United States Census Bureau]] |access-date= }}</ref>

!Pop 20202010<ref name=2020CensusP22010CensusP2>{{Cite web|title=P2 HISPANICHispanic ORor LATINOLatino, ANDand NOTNot HISPANICHispanic ORor LATINOLatino BYby RACERace -– 20202010: DEC Redistricting Data (PL 94-171) -– El Dorado County, California|url=https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?q=p2&g=0500000US06017&tid=DECENNIALPL2020DECENNIALPL2010.P2|website=[[United States Census Bureau]]}}</ref>

!{{partial|% 2020}}

|style='background: #ffffe6; |140,141

|0.1411%

|[[Race and ethnicity in the United States census|Some Other Race]] alone (NH)

|[[Multiracial Americans|Mixed Race/ or Multi-Racial]] (NH)

|style='background: #ffffe6; |'''191,185'''

|!Year

|!Office

|!Results

El Dorado County has a secessionist movement, calling for the county of less than 200,000 residents to become a new state of the union. [[Wyoming]], the least populous current state, has approximately three times the number of residents. Sharon Durst, one of the leaders of the movement, was previously a supporter of the [[Jefferson (proposed Pacific state)|State of Jefferson]] movement, that advocates for Northern California counties and Southern Oregon counties to form a new state. El Dorado County's seat, [[Placerville, California]], is located 45 miles from [[Sacramento]], the state's capital. The leadership of the movement acknowledges that it is unlikely that the California legislature would approve their separation from the state, as required by the [[United States Constitution]]. They promote an unproven theory that the county "is technically not a legitimate piece of California and is instead 'other property' of Congress".<ref>{{cite news | last =Ting | first =Eric | title ='This state is under tyranny': Scenes from California's latest secession movement | newspaper =[[SFGate]] | location =[[San Francisco]] | pages = | language = | publisher = | date =July 17, 2023 | url = https://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/scenes-from-el-dorado-state-secession-california-18201138.php | accessdate =July 17, 2023 }}</ref>

|publisher=State of California}}</ref> In the [[California State Senate|State Senate]], it is in {{Representative|casd|1|fmt=sdistrict}}.<ref>{{Cite web

* Tahoe Transportation District <ref>[http://tahoetransportation.org/ Tahoe Transportation District]</ref> is the transit operator for the South Lake Tahoe area. Service also runs into the state of [[Nevada]].

Portions of El Dorado County are known to contain natural [[asbestos]] formations near the surface.<ref name="dirty">{{Citation|last=Raloff |first=Janet |title=Dirty Little Secret |newspaper=Science News |date=July 8, 2006 |url=http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20060708/bob9.asp |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070713075111/http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20060708/bob9.asp |archive-date=July 13, 2007 }}</ref> The [[USGS]] studied [[amphibole]]s 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.<ref>{{Citation

In 2003, after construction of the Oak Ridge High School (El Dorado Hills) soccer field, the federal [[Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry]] found that some student athletes, coaches and school workers had received substantial exposures. The inside of the school needed to be cleaned of dust.<ref name="dirty"/>

== Sister relationshipscity ==

* {{flagicon|JPN}} [[Warabi, Saitama|Warabi]], [[Saitama Prefecture]], Japan is a sister municipalitycity to El Dorado County, California on March 26, 1975.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sf.us.emb-japan.go.jp/itpr_en/e_m07_06_01.html|title = Northern and Central California Sister Cities in Japan}}</ref>