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El Dorado County

El Dorado County, California
County
County of El Dorado
L StarksGradeBarn.jpg Sugar Pine Point State Park 1.jpg
American river running through the El Dorado hills.jpg 2009-0724-CA-MarhallDiscoverySite.jpg
Images, from top down, left to right: A barn in El Dorado County, the shore of Lake Tahoe in Ed Z'berg Sugar Pine Point State Park, the South Fork American River running through the El Dorado hills, Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park
Flag of El Dorado County, California
Flag
Official seal of El Dorado County, California
Seal
Location in the state of California
Location in the state of California
California's location in the United States
California's location in the United States
Country  United States of America
State  California
Regions Sierra Nevada, Gold Country
Metropolitan area Greater Sacramento
Incorporated February 18, 1850
Named for Spanish for "the golden" and El Dorado
County seat Placerville
Largest city South Lake Tahoe
Area
 • Total 1,786 sq mi (4,630 km2)
 • Land 1,708 sq mi (4,420 km2)
 • Water 78 sq mi (200 km2)
Highest elevation 10,886 ft (3,318 m)
Population (April 1, 2010)
 • Total 181,058
 • Estimate (2016) 185,625
 • Density 100/sq mi (39/km2)
Time zone Pacific Time Zone (UTC−8)
 • Summer (DST) Pacific Daylight Time (UTC−7)
ZIP code 95762
Area code 530, 916
FIPS code 06-017
GNIS feature ID 277273
Website www.edcgov.us

El Dorado County, officially the County of El Dorado, is a county in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2010 census, the population was 181,058. The county seat is Placerville.

El Dorado County is part of the Sacramento-Roseville-Arden-Arcade, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area. It is in the historic Gold Country in the Sierra Nevada.

El Dorado County's population has grown as Greater Sacramento has expanded into the region. In the county's unique Lake Tahoe area, environmental awareness and environmental protection initiatives have grown along with the population since the 1960 Winter Olympics, hosted at Squaw Valley Ski Resort in neighboring Placer County.

The present-day site of El Dorado County was once home to the Maidu, Washoe, and Miwok Native American tribes, and is notable for being the site of the 1848 gold discovery that sparked the California Gold Rush. 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".

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. Highway 50 follows the Pony Express route today.


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