Eldorado

How Eldorado began

Eldorado, in northern Preble County near the Darke County line, took its name -- by an 1881 county historian's account -- from the legendary 'fountain of gold' sought by treasure hunters, after leases were taken and oil-boring wells begun nearby raised hopes of riches. The village grew when the Dayton and Western Railroad reached it, shifting business away from the older nearby settlement of Hamburg, whose population dwindled as Eldorado's grew. Eldorado and West Manchester became the two principal towns of their township along that rail line. The village's population rose from 337 in 1880 to a peak of 549 in 1990, standing at 458 at the 2020 census.

Settled 1852 (Leroy R. McWhinney), platted 1852-12-31, incorporated 1872-05-13 (1881 history) or 1875 (1915 history), by Leroy R. McWhinney.

Where the name comes from

An 1881 Preble County history explains the name as a reference to Eldorado, the mythical 'fountain of gold' sought by treasure hunters since the sixteenth century; for a time the name seemed to promise riches when oil-prospecting leases were taken and boring wells begun in the area.

Before the town

No mound, village, trail or treaty site specific to Eldorado was found in the sources checked.

Nations recorded here: Miami, Shawnee.

Timeline

1. 1848 — The United Brethren in the older settlement of Hamburg, a mile south, where Samuel Adams had built the first store, build their church; Hamburg is the first place in the township that could be called a town.
2. 1852 — Leroy R. McWhinney builds the first house in Eldorado, with a store, mill, depot and grain house near the newly completed Dayton and Western railroad, and the plat of eighteen lots on his land is recorded December 31; Samuel Rhodes and Edward Dyell have cabins nearby.
3. 1854 — A steam grist mill is built at Eldorado and runs successfully for many years; the school house, outside the village until about the beginning of the Civil War, is then moved into town.
4. 1868 — The United Brethren build a church at Eldorado and the Hamburg members transfer to it; in 1869 the Universalists build a brick church and bring over the members of Monroe Universalist church.
5. 1872 — Eldorado is incorporated, on May 13, 1872 according to the 1881 county history and in 1875 according to the 1915 history; Matthew T. McWhinney is elected first mayor, with the first full slate of officers elected in 1876.
6. 1880 — Eldorado's population was recorded at 337.
7. 1882 — A four-room brick school is built in Eldorado; it is remodeled in 1908 at a cost of over $3,000.
8. 1888 — The Knights of Pythias lodge is formed with J. D. Gartrell as chancellor commander and thirteen charter members, and later buys the old Methodist Episcopal church building, adds a second story and owns its lodge home free of debt.
9. 1892 — The United Brethren congregation builds a brick church at a cost of about $6,500; in 1909 the Universalists build a brick church costing over $5,000.
10. 1915 — The village owns its council chamber and its own electric lighting system, buying current from Greenville for twenty-one street lights and commercial use.
11. 1990 — Eldorado's population peaked at 549.
12. 2020 — Eldorado's population stood at 458.
13. n.d. — The Dayton and Western Railroad reached Eldorado, shifting business activity there from the older nearby settlement of Hamburg, whose population dwindled as a result.

Stories

A gold-rush name for an oil boom that fizzled

When Preble County's 1881 historian tried to explain how a small farm village came to be called Eldorado, after the legendary fountain of gold that sixteenth-century Spanish treasure hunters chased across the Americas, the answer he gave was oil, not gold. In the years before the railroad, boring crews sank wells around the settlement chasing the same kind of speculative promise that gave the town its name, and leases changed hands on the hope that Preble County sat on hidden riches. The wells did not make anyone rich, but the name outlasted the boom. What did change the village's fortunes was more mundane: when the Dayton and Western Railroad laid track through Eldorado rather than through the older settlement of Hamburg nearby, trade and population followed the rails, and Hamburg slowly emptied out while Eldorado grew into one of the two principal towns of its township.

A railroad takes the town from Hamburg

Hamburg, a mile south of the present Eldorado, was the first settlement in Monroe Township: Samuel Adams opened a store there at an early day, the United Brethren built a church in 1848, and the western part of the township did its business and kept its post office at Hamburg. Then, in 1852, the Dayton and Western Railroad was completed a mile to the north of it. Leroy R. McWhinney, who had built the first house, store, mill, depot and grain house beside the track, laid out the town of Eldorado on his own land in that year and the post office and business moved to the railroad. Hamburg stopped growing, 'although a number of its older citizens hoped for a railroad as long as they lived,' and the 1881 county history says it was soon a few houses at the crossroads, its congregation transferred in time to the new Eldorado church. The McWhinney family led the new town: Matthew T. McWhinney bought Leroy's business and was elected its first mayor.

Local history sources: en.wikipedia.org · genealogytrails.com · en.wikipedia.org · archive.org · archive.org

Groundwater wells (2 wells) The water here

• Eldorado, Village Of100% of residentsGroundwater wells (2 wells)

Fire and EMS stations (1)

Bridges rated poor (1)

Public libraries (1)

Money issues on the ballot since 2020: 1 of 1 passed.

Ballot issues

Elections for office

Winners in bold. Results from the county board of elections' official canvass unless marked.

Auditor of State record

• No fiscal caution, watch or emergency on the Auditor of State's lists.
• Agreed Upon Procedures, 2023 to 2024, released 2025-10-02

Source: Ohio EPA eDocument portal (edocpub.epa.ohio.gov), indexed 2026-10-14. Facilities are placed on the map from Ohio EPA's own map layers, EPA's Facility Registry, coordinates written in the filings, or a geocoded street address. A permit filed under a private person's name (most are household septic systems) is counted but never named, placed or linked; licenses for individual workers and open-burning notices are left out entirely.

Cite this page