EL DORADO COUNTY, CALIFORNIA

'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 metropolitan Sacramento area has expanded. In addition, the population of the Lake Tahoe area has also boomed recently.

Contents

History

Demographics

Geography

Cities and Towns

Adjacent Counties

Transportation Infrastructure

Major Highways

Public Transportation

Airports

Asbestos

References

External links

History

El Dorado County was one of the original counties of California, created in 1850 at the time of statehood. Parts of the county's territory were given to Amador County in 1854 and to Alpine County in 1864. Prior to statehood, it had been referred to as Coloma County.
The county derives its name from "El Dorado" -- the far-famed fabulous region of genial clime and never-fading verdure, where gold and precious stones are as common as rocks and pebbles, where wines gently flow from fountains. The name, meaning "the gilded one" in Spanish, appears at the beginning of the 16th century as that of a mythical Native American chief who was said to have been covered with gold dust during the performance of religious rites.
When the discovery of gold by James W. Marshall at Coloma in January 1848 became known to the world, California, and particularly that section where gold was discovered, was referred to as "El Dorado." Many present-day towns in the county grew at the sites of gold mining camps set up during the California Gold Rush. A wealth of detail on that era and other aspects of county history is presented on the official county website at Stories in El Dorado County History.

Demographics

As of the census² of 2000, there were 156,299 people, 58,939 households, and 43,025 families residing in the county. The population density was 35/km² (91/mi²). There were 71,278 housing units at an average density of 16/km² (42/mi²). 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. 90.5% spoke English and 6.5% Spanish as their first language.
There were 58,939 households out of which 34.20% had kids under the age of 18 living with them, 60.10% were married couples living together, 8.90% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.00% were non-families. 20.10% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.30% 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 26.10% under the age of 18, 6.80% from 18 to 24, 27.80% from 25 to 44, 26.90% from 45 to 64, and 12.40% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 99.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.30 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 5.00% of families and 7.10% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.60% of those under age 18 and 5.00% of those age 65 or over.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 4,631 km² (1,788 mi²). 4,431 km² (1,711 mi²) of it is land and 200 km² (77 mi²) of it (4.32%) is water.
El Dorado County contains the Desolation Wilderness, with Freel Peak^[1] 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)
'Towns over 10,000 population'

★ El Dorado Hills

★ Cameron Park
'Towns under 10,000 population'

★ Camino

★ Cool

★ Diamond Springs

★ El Dorado

★ Garden Valley

★ Georgetown

★ Grizzly Flats

★ Happy Valley

★ Mt. Aukum

★ Outingdale

★ Pollock Pines

★ Shingle Springs

★ Somerset

★ 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. Highway 50

★ California State Route 49

★ California State Route 89

★ California State Route 193

Public Transportation

★ [1] 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.^[2] 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".^[3]
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

1. ''Freel Peak''
2.
3.

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