El Dorado County, California


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 located entirely in the 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. In the county's 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.

History

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. 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.
The Placerville Mountain Democrat, California's oldest surviving newspaper, serves El Dorado County.

Government and policing

Policing

The El Dorado County Sheriff provides court protection, county jail administration, and coroner service for all of the county and provides patrol and detective services for the unincorporated areas of the county. Placerville, population 11,000, has a municipal police department, as does South Lake Tahoe, population 22,000.

Sheriffs

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of, of which is land and is water.
The county, owing to its location in the Sierra Nevada, consists of rolling hills and mountainous terrain. The northeast corner is in the Lake Tahoe Basin, including a portion of the lake itself. Across the Sierra crest to the west lies the majority of the county, referred to as the “western slope.” A portion of Folsom Lake is in the northwest corner of the county.
Much of the county is public land. The Eldorado National Forest comprises a significant portion of the county's land area, primarily on the western slope. The Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit, formerly part of the Eldorado and two other National Forests, manages much of the land east of the crest. The Pacific Crest Trail runs through the eastern part of the county, along or roughly paralleling the Sierra crest. The county is home to the Desolation Wilderness, a popular destination for hiking, backpacking, and fishing.

Adjacent counties

Parks

2011

Places by population, race, and income

2010

The 2010 United States Census reported that El Dorado County had a population of 181,058. The racial makeup of El Dorado County was 156,793 White, 1,409 African American, 2,070 Native American, 6,297 Asian, 294 Pacific Islander, 7,278 from other races, and 6,917 from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 21,875 persons. The largest growth in the county has come in El Dorado Hills where the population grew by 24,092 residents to a total of 42,108 since 2000.

2000

As of the census of 2000, there were 156,299 people, 58,939 households, and 43,025 families residing in the county. The population density was 91 people per square mile. There were 71,278 housing units at an average density of 42 per square mile. The racial makeup of the county was 89.7% White, 0.5% Black or African American, 1.0% Native American, 2.1% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 3.6% from other races, and 3.0% from two or more races. 9.3% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 14.9% were of German, 13.4% English, 10.3% Irish, 6.6% Italian and 6.6% American ancestry according to Census 2000. 90.5% spoke English and 6.5% Spanish as their first language.
There were 58,939 households, out of which 34.2% had youngsters under the age of 18 living with them, 60.1% were married couples living together, 8.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.0% were non-families. 20.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.3% 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 26.1% under the age of 18, 6.8% from 18 to 24, 27.8% from 25 to 44, 26.9% from 45 to 64, and 12.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 99.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.3 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 5.0% of families and 7.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.6% of those under age 18 and 5.0% of those age 65 or over.

Politics

Voter registration statistics

Cities by population and voter registration

Overview

El Dorado is a predominantly Republican county in presidential and congressional elections. However, from 1892 until 1952, the county was a Democratic stronghold, with Theodore Roosevelt and Warren Harding being the only two Republicans to carry the county. Since 1952, however, El Dorado has gone Democratic only three times: in 1960 narrowly for John Kennedy, in 1964 in a landslide for Lyndon Johnson, and in 1976 narrowly for Jimmy Carter.
YearGOPDEMOthers
201651.76% 49,24738.26% 36,4049.98% 9,498
201257.27% 50,97339.51% 35,1663.21% 2,859
200853.92% 50,31443.44% 40,5292.64% 2,466
200461.23% 52,87837.33% 32,2421.44% 1,244
200058.29% 42,04536.35% 26,2205.37% 3,871
199651.84% 32,75936.33% 22,95711.83% 7,480
199239.92% 25,90632.38% 21,01227.69% 17,969
198859.33% 30,02139.13% 19,8011.54% 781
198464.93% 27,58333.69% 14,3121.37% 583
198058.27% 21,23829.53% 10,76512.20% 4,446
197647.69% 12,47248.80% 12,7633.51% 919
197254.20% 11,33041.40% 8,6544.41% 921
196849.00% 7,46839.72% 6,05411.28% 1,719
196439.53% 5,77560.30% 8,8100.17% 25
196049.16% 6,06550.05% 6,1750.79% 97
195653.60% 4,61345.97% 3,9570.43% 37
195260.51% 5,20338.35% 3,2971.14% 98
194843.04% 2,89451.95% 3,4935.01% 337
194439.55% 1,99059.95% 3,0160.50% 25
194032.37% 2,01966.44% 4,1441.19% 74
193623.12% 1,22875.66% 4,0191.22% 65
193223.12% 95673.37% 3,0343.51% 145
192844.25% 1,22854.63% 1,5161.12% 31
192428.49% 85212.07% 36159.45% 1,778
192064.36% 1,63628.56% 7267.08% 180
191635.10% 1,06857.67% 1,7557.23% 220
19120.59% 1659.04% 1,61340.37% 1,103
190844.74% 98646.23% 1,0199.03% 199
190454.10% 1,24837.49% 8658.41% 194
190045.14% 1,19353.20% 1,4061.66% 44
189639.54% 1,13058.57% 1,6741.89% 54
189243.80% 1,15948.00% 1,2708.21% 217

The county is noted as a center of political concern with the United Nations non-binding sustainable development plan Agenda 21, which was on the County Board of Supervisors meeting Agenda on May 15, 2012. Concerns included the threat of U.S. Forest Service road closures and traffic roundabouts. On February 19, 2013, 14 members of the El Dorado County Grand Jury resigned, forcing Supervising Judge Steven Bailey to dissolve it.
El Dorado County is in. In the State Assembly, the county is split between and. In the State Senate, it is in.

Crime

The following table includes the number of incidents reported and the rate per 1,000 persons for each type of offense.

Cities by population and crime rates

CityPopulationViolent crimesViolent crime rate
per 1,000 persons		Property crimesProperty crime rate
per 1,000 persons
Placerville10,479555.2519418.51
South Lake Tahoe21,5861486.8654425.20

Transportation

Major highways

General aviation airports 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. 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.
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 had received substantial exposures. The inside of the school needed to be cleaned of dust.

Sister relationships

Cities

The population ranking of the following table is based on the 2010 census of El Dorado County.
† county seat
RankCity/town/etc.Municipal typePopulation
1El Dorado HillsCDP42,108
2South Lake TahoeCity21,403
3Cameron ParkCDP18,228
4Diamond SpringsCDP11,037
5† PlacervilleCity10,389
6Pollock PinesCDP6,871
7Shingle SpringsCDP4,432
8Auburn Lake TrailsCDP3,426
9GeorgetownCDP2,367
10CaminoCDP1,750
11Tahoma CDP1,191
12Grizzly FlatsCDP1,066
13ColomaCDP529
14Cold SpringsCDP446
15Shingle Springs RancheriaAIAN102