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History · Eldorado

Eldorado’s post office opened in 1890, and 18% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1960 on and the census since 1910.

1890first post office
0on the National Register
18%homes built before 1940
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Eldorado began

When was Eldorado founded?

1890

The Eldorado post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 926 in 19102020 census: 317136 years
Founding year: the first Eldorado post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Eldorado’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Eldorado are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 1,183 in 1930; 317 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Eldorado’s homes were built before 1963.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Eldorado’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Eldorado’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Eldorado, census by census

02004006008001,0001,200192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,183

Peaked at 1,183 in 1930; 317 people lived here in 2020.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

The story so far

Eldorado, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Eldorado yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Eldorado is a town in Jackson County, Oklahoma, United States. As of the 2020 census, Eldorado had a population of 317. The Southern Baptist pastor, W. A. Criswell, was born in Eldorado in 1909. He was the long-term pastor of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas.

Its first post office opened in 1890. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 446 to 317 (-29%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Eldorado, 1890 to 1960

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1890Post officeThe Eldorado post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1909Born hereWallie Amos Criswell is born here
  5. 1915Born hereRalph W. Cousins is born here
  6. 1930CensusPopulation peaks at 1,183
  7. 1960On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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On the map

Eldorado on the map, 1960 to 1984

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

Eldorado on the 1960 USGS mapEldorado on the 1984 USGS map1960Quanah 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.

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Eldorado

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Ralph W. CousinsUnited States admiral · b. 1915
Wallie Amos CriswellSouthern Baptist clergyman · b. 1909

Questions about Eldorado’s history

What year was Eldorado founded?

The Eldorado post office opened in 1890, 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 Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.