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Welcome to Eldorado
Top of The Divide Elev. 2439
Photo courtesy Barclay
Gibson, February 2010 |
History in
a Pecan Shell
The town dates
to 1895 when W. B. Silliman and two partners surveyed former railroad
land and named the future town Eldorado after the mythical city. To
get residents, Silliman offered free town lots to residents of nearby
Verand. Enough people took advantage
of the offer that the post office moved there (still in 1895) and
the next year the town had a population of 100. Eldorado was made
county seat when Schleicher
County was organized in 1901.
Schleicher County
held land rushes between 1901 and 1905, and Eldorado benefited from
the new county residents. A proposed railroad link to San
Angelo never materialized but Eldorado thrived nonetheless. By
1914 the population was 500 with all essential businesses and even
a newspaper.
A vote to incorporate in 1925 was revoked in 1927 when increased taxes
and a city ordnance to keep livestock penned was met with scorn. A
second petition resulted in re-incorporation in March of 1929. A railroad
link between Sonora and to
San
Angelo became a reality in 1930 (The Kansas City, Mexico and Orient)
passing through (and stopping at) Eldorado.
During WWII
West Texas Woolen Mills was established - making untold thousands
of blankets for the military. The building and looms still stand.
The population reached a high of 2,790 in the mid-1960s, but declined
to only 1,400 ten years later. The railroad pulled up tracks in 1976.
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Old
Eldorado Woolen Mill
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark
Photo courtesy Barclay
Gibson, February 2010 |
West
Texas Woolen Mills Historical Marker
Photo courtesy Barclay
Gibson, February 2010 |
First Baptist
Church of Eldorado
Photo courtesy Barclay
Gibson, February 2010 |
West
Texas Feed and Mercantile
Photo courtesy Barclay
Gibson, February 2010 |
| Texas
Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing
Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share their local history, stories,
landmarks and recent or vintage photos, please contact
us. |
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