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History · Eldorado Springs

Eldorado Springs’ post office opened in 1930, and 23% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1906 on, and the census since 2000.

1930first post office
0on the National Register
23%homes built before 1940
6old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Eldorado Springs’ archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Eldorado Springs began

When was Eldorado Springs founded?

1930

The Eldorado Springs post office opened in 1930, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 557 in 20002020 census: 55996 years
Founding year: the first Eldorado Springs post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Eldorado Springs’ past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

On the map since 19064 editions of the USGS map, 1906 to 1971. Watch Eldorado Springs change.Old housesHalf of Eldorado Springs’ homes were built before 1964.
★ What stands out · On the map

Eldorado Springs on the map, 1906 to 1971

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Eldorado Springs. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Eldorado Springs on the 1906 USGS mapEldorado Springs on the 1942 USGS mapEldorado Springs on the 1965 USGS mapEldorado Springs on the 1971 USGS map1906Blackhawk sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Eldorado Springs.

The story

How Eldorado Springs came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Eldorado Springs.

Read it all →

The Moffat Lakes Resort opened on July 4, 1905. The Eldorado Hotel open at the resort in 1908, and the resort became known as Eldorado Springs. In 1916, future president Dwight Eisenhower and new bride Mamie Eisenhower celebrated their honeymoon in one of the cabins at the resort. The Eldorado Springs, Colorado, post office opened on May 1, 1930. Known for its good tasting spring water, "Eldorado Springs" bottled water is sold in stores around Colorado. Eldorado Canyon State Park opened in August 1978 adjacent to the community.

Ivy Baldwin (1866–1953), best known locally for his Eldorado Canyon tightrope walks across South Boulder Creek

ChaptersNotable residents

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Eldorado Springs, 1900 to 1938

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 20th century
  2. 1900In the archiveSwimming pool Eldorado Springs Colo
  3. 1906On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 1930Post officeThe Eldorado Springs post office opens
  5. 1938In the archiveBOW 1-17 - DPLA - 3ba29d59f95d0336d4313b58704f6ef3
By decade

Eldorado Springs, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s5 items
Swimming pool Eldorado Springs Colo1900Swimming pool Eldorado Springs ColoFrolic in the Swimming Pool1909Frolic in the Swimming PoolTop of Great Rock Gateway1909Top of Great Rock GatewaySpectacular feat of Ivy Baldwin, the celebrated tight-rope performer1909Spectacular feat of Ivy Baldwin, the celebrated tight…Baldwin making record tight rope walk over gorge, - length, 582 ft. height 555 ft1909Baldwin making record tight rope walk over gorge, - l…
1930s1 item
BOW 1-17 - DPLA - 3ba29d59f95d0336d4313b58704f6ef31938BOW 1-17 - DPLA - 3ba29d59f95d0336d4313b58704f6ef3
1940s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Swimming pool Eldorado Springs Colo
Retake this viewSwimming pool Eldorado Springs Colo, 1900

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Eldorado Springs’ page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Eldorado Springs, census by census

010020030040050060020002020Peak: 585

Between 557 and 585 people in every census since 2000.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Eldorado Springs’ Wikipedia page.

Famous people

Famous people close to Eldorado Springs

Nobody well known was born in Eldorado Springs itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Edward Lawrie TatumUS genetics scientist · b. 1909
K
Kristin DavisAmerican actress · b. 1965
Scott CarpenterAmerican test pilot, astronaut and aquanaut · b. 1925
J
John Carroll LynchAmerican character actor and film director · b. 1963
Emma CoburnAmerican steeplechaser · b. 1990
Jack D. FischerAmerican astronaut · b. 1974
Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Eldorado Springs’s post office has been open since 1930.

Gone or out of use
McCann Clay Minemine
1cemetery inside Eldorado Springs
Eldorado Springs

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Finish Eldorado Springs’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewSwimming pool Eldorado Springs Colo: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Eldorado Springs’ history

What year was Eldorado Springs founded?

The Eldorado Springs post office opened in 1930, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

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 (1), the Library of Congress (5), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via 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.