Eldorado

Eldorado, the county seat of Schleicher County, is at the intersection of U.S. highways 190 and 277, forty-five miles south of San Angelo near the center of the county. The area was part of a grant made by the state of Texas to the Houston East and West Texas Railway Company in 1878, but the railroad laid no track there. In 1895 W. B. Silliman acquired half interest in one of the sections of land and formed a company with two other men to establish a new townsite. Silliman surveyed the site, named the new town Eldorado, opened a store, and attracted residents from nearby Verand by offering them free town lots if they would move to Eldorado. The post office at Verand was officially transferred to Eldorado in 1895, and by 1896 Eldorado had two general stores and 100 residents. The community's first school was established in 1897. When Schleicher County was organized in 1901, Eldorado was named county seat.