The Eldora post office opened in 1897, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Hessie (1898), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 140129 years
How did Eldora get its name?
Eldora was originally named Happy Valley in the 1890s for the discovery of the Happy Valley Placer Mine by John J. Kemp and seven city associates.
Eldora was first settled by the Arapaho- and Ute people who used the area for hunting during summer. Eldora was originally built as a mining town. Although prospectors had been poking around in Eldora since the early 1850s, it was not until 1875 that enough gold was discovered to open a mine in Eldora. The primary decision to officially establish a town in the 1880s was in part an effort to open up further mining area, and in part an attempt at a through route into Middle Park and Western Colorado. Eldora boomed and prospered during the 1890s, and at one point, Eldora was home to as many as 1300–1500 people in the late 1890s. The Eldora, Colorado, post office operated from February 13, 1897, until May 19, 1967. The Nederland, Colorado, post office (ZIP code 80466) now serves the area.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone
Eldora had its own post office from 1897 to 1967. Another post office, Hessie, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Eldora
1897–1967
Hessie
1898–1902
18901960today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Grand IslandHessie
Gone or out of use
Amy Paul MinemineBird Nest and Village Belle MinemineClara MinemineEnterprise MinemineGrand Island Mining District MinemineMogul TunnelmineShirley MinemineSwathmore MinemineTerror MinemineVirginia Shaft MinemineX-ray Minemine
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Eldora’s history
What year was Eldora founded?
The Eldora post office opened in 1897, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
What is on the National Register in Eldora?
Three places: the Eldora Historic District (listed 1989), the Gold Miner Hotel (1997) and the Buchan Cabin (2020).
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (6), the National Register of Historic Places (3), Wikipedia, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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