Eldora, Colorado

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}}Template:Main other Eldora (pronounced el-DOH-ruh),<ref>Benson, Maxine (1994). 1001 Colorado Place Names. University Press of Kansas. Page 64. Template:ISBN.</ref> previously known as "Eldorado" then "El-Dora", then Eldora or Camp Eldorado, and still called Happy Valley,<ref name="rootsweb.ancestry.com">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Bauer, Carolyn 1987 Page 19">Bauer, Carolyn (1987). Colorado Ghost Towns: Remnants of Colorado's Mining Days. American Traveler Press. Page 19. Template:ISBN.</ref><ref>Langley, John R. and Donald Campbell Kemp (1945). Happy Valley, a Promoter's Paradise: Being an Historic Sketch of Eldora, Colorado and Its Environs. Smith-Brooks Printing Company.</ref> is an unincorporated community and a census-designated place (CDP) located in and governed by Boulder County, Colorado, United States.<ref>Roach, Gerry (1998). Colorado's Indian Peaks: Classic Hikes and Climbs. Fulcrum Publishing. Page 5. Template:ISBN.</ref><ref>Muller, Dave (2003). The Colorado Year Round Outdoor Guide. The Mountaineers Books. Page 44 and page 194. Template:ISBN</ref><ref>Grinstead, Steve and Ben Fogelberg (2006). Walking Into Colorado's Past: 50 Front Range History Hikes. Big Earth Publishing. Page 78. Template:ISBN.</ref><ref name="Dziezynski, James 2012 Page 68">Dziezynski, James (2012). Best Summit Hikes in Colorado: An Opinionated Guide to 50+ Ascents of Classic and Little-Known Peaks from 8,144 to 14,433 feet. Wilderness Press. Page 68. Template:ISBN.</ref> The CDP is a part of the Boulder, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population of the Eldora CDP was 140 at the United States Census 2020.<ref name="Census 2020" /> The Nederland post office (Zip Code 80466) serves the area.<ref name=ZIPcode/>

Eldora is located within the Roosevelt National Forest, and is primarily an alpine, densely forested, and densely but smally populated area. Eldora is tucked into the valley carved by glaciation during the last ice age and by Middle Boulder Creek. From the village there are no views up toward the alpine ski runs of Eldora Mountain Resort.<ref>Walter, Claire (2004). Snowshoeing Colorado. Fulcrum Publishing. Page 92. Template:ISBN.</ref> A one-time gold camp, Eldora was a shipping point for the Caribou silver mine in nearby Nederland, CO.<ref name="Writers 1948 Page 268">Writers' Program of the Work Projects Administration in the State of Colorado (1948). Colorado, a Guide to the Highest State. North American Book Dist LLC. Page 268. Template:ISBN.</ref> At present, Eldora is characterized by small cabins, a sprinkling of vacation homes, and two long-shuttered mercantiles.

Points of interest near Eldora include the Eldora Mountain Resort, Eldora Historic District, and Indian Peaks Wilderness.<ref name="Bauer, Carolyn 1987 Page 19" /> Eldora Historic District has been listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places since 1989.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The area is home to an abundance of wilderness and wildlife, including animals such as mountain lions, black bears, coyotes, red foxes, mule deer, elk, bobcats, and much more.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Eldora receives a heavy annual snowfall of 300 inches each winter.<ref name="Forster, Matt 2011 Page 76">Forster, Matt (2011). Explorer's Guide Colorado. The Countryman Press. Page 76. Template:ISBN.</ref>

EtymologyEdit

File:View of Eldora, CO.JPG

View of the densely forested areas surrounding Eldora Lodge at Wondervu.

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.<ref name="Bauer, Carolyn 1987 Page 19"/> The town was soon renamed El Dorado,<ref name="Dallas, Sandra 1988 Page 71">Dallas, Sandra (1988). Colorado Ghost Towns and Mining Camps. University of Oklahoma Press. Page 71. Template:ISBN.</ref> Eldorado or Eldorado Camp. But, as frequently happened at the time, the U.S. Postal Service mistakenly delivered their mail to towns by the same name in other U.S. states, particularly to El Dorado, CA,<ref name="Dallas, Sandra 1988 Page 71"/><ref>Crossen, Forest (1962). The Switzerland Trail of America: An Illustrated History of the Romantic Narrow Gauge Lines Running West from Boulder, Colorado: the Greeley, Salt Lake & Pacific, and the Colorado & Northwestern, Later the Denver, Boulder & Western. Pruett Press. Page 335.</ref> creating havoc by delaying payroll checks and important papers. Consequently, the U.S. Post Service changed the conflicting name by dropping the last syllable “do” from Colorado's Eldorado.<ref name="Bauer, Carolyn 1987 Page 19"/> That name change occurred in 1898, one year after the local post office was established (Feb. 13, 1897), which was in use until it closed in September 1977.<ref name="rootsweb.ancestry.com"/>

HistoryEdit

File:Eldora Mountain Resort view from the parking.jpg

Eldora Mountain Resort and Challenge Mountain.

Eldora was first settled by the Arapaho- and Ute people who used the area for hunting during summer.<ref name="Ski Vol 2001 Page 62">In the magazine Ski Vol. 65, No. 6 (Feb. 2001). Page 62. {{#if:0037-6159|Template:Catalog lookup link{{#if:Template:Trim|{{#ifeq:Template:Yesno-no|yes|Template:Main other|{{#invoke:check isxn|check_issn|Template:Trim|error=Template:Error-small Template:Main other}}}}{{#if:Template:Trim|{{#ifeq:Template:Yesno-no|yes|Template:Main other|{{#invoke:check isxn|check_issn|Template:Trim|error=Template:Error-small Template:Main other}}}}{{#if:Template:Trim|{{#ifeq:Template:Yesno-no|yes|Template:Main other|{{#invoke:check isxn|check_issn|Template:Trim|error=Template:Error-small Template:Main other}}}}{{#if:Template:Trim|{{#ifeq:Template:Yesno-no|yes|Template:Main other|{{#invoke:check isxn|check_issn|Template:Trim|error=Template:Error-small Template:Main other}}}}{{#if:Template:Trim|{{#ifeq:Template:Yesno-no|yes|Template:Main other|{{#invoke:check isxn|check_issn|Template:Trim|error=Template:Error-small Template:Main other}}}}{{#if:Template:Trim|{{#ifeq:Template:Yesno-no|yes|Template:Main other|{{#invoke:check isxn|check_issn|Template:Trim|error=Template:Error-small Template:Main other}}}}{{#if:Template:Trim|{{#ifeq:Template:Yesno-no|yes|Template:Main other|{{#invoke:check isxn|check_issn|Template:Trim|error=Template:Error-small Template:Main other}}}}{{#if:Template:Trim|{{#ifeq:Template:Yesno-no|yes|Template:Main other|{{#invoke:check isxn|check_issn|Template:Trim|error=Template:Error-small Template:Main other}}}}{{#if:Template:Trim|{{#ifeq:Template:Yesno-no|yes|Template:Main other|{{#invoke:check isxn|check_issn|Template:Trim|error=Template:Error-small Template:Main other}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}|Template:Error-small}}.</ref> Eldora was originally built as a mining town.<ref>Kindig, Jean Matthews (2010). Eldora!: The Transition of a Mining Community in the Colorado Rockies. Sine nomine.</ref> 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.<ref>Hlawaty, Stephen (2014). Mountain Biking Colorado's Front Range: From Fort Collins To Colorado Springs. Rowman & Littlefield. Page 138. Template:ISBN.</ref> 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.<ref>Hilton, George Woodman (1990). American Narrow Gauge Railroads. Stanford University Press. Page 340. Template:ISBN.</ref> 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. In 1898, Eldora was home to a bank, a post office, a school, nine hair saloons and seven grocery stores.<ref name="Bauer, Carolyn 1987 Page 19"/><ref name="Ski Vol 2001 Page 62"/> Although it had a mining life of its own, Eldora also served as a supply center for the camps beyond, and a rail-road shipping center for the camps in the nearby area. The first time the manager of the Bailey Chlorination Mill in Eldora, Mr. Bailey, neglected to pay his workers on time, angry employees promptly gathered at his house, smoked him out, and shot and killed Mr. Bailey.<ref name="Bauer, Carolyn 1987 Page 19"/><ref name="Dallas, Sandra 1988 Page 71"/><ref>Eberhart, Perry (1981). Guide to the Colorado ghost towns and mining camps. Swallow Press. Page 72. Template:ISBN.</ref> Despite its intensity of gold, silver and tungsten mining, Eldora's economic boom was brief. It peaked at the turn of the century, but experienced a devastating wildfire in 1899. With much of its timber lost, lumber that was vital to the mining construction was in short supply. The 21st century has experienced renewed interest in Eldora mining, with hopes of reopening the Mogul Tunnel Mine on Spencer Mountain.<ref>Hlawaty, Stephen (2014). Mountain Biking Colorado's Front Range: From Fort Collins To Colorado Springs. Rowman & Littlefield. Pages 139–140. Template:ISBN.</ref>

GeographyEdit

Eldora is a small village located in the southwestern parts of Boulder County, Colorado. Eldora is located within the Roosevelt National Forest, at the base of Ute Mountains in the Middle Boulder Creek valley. It is situated immediately above the Colorado banana belt. The nearest town is Nederland, Colorado, four miles east of Eldora.<ref name="Dallas, Sandra 1988 Page 71"/> From Boulder, CO, you follow Colorado 119 through Boulder Canyon to Nederland, CO, and then head south-west into Eldora.<ref name="Bauer, Carolyn 1987 Page 19"/>

The Eldora CDP has an area of Template:Convert, including Template:Convert of water.<ref name=CO_CDP_2020/>

File:Eldora, CO. Panoramic view..jpg

Panoramic view of the densely forested area of Eldora.