Eldorado, IL

Eldorado’s name is a railroad story with a Southern Illinois accent. The town was first platted in 1858, but the older names—Elder-Reado or Eldereado—came from the Elder and Read families. A sign painter at the depot is said to have given the spelling its final turn. Rail lines later crossed here, and the city grew into a coal town before the mine closures that reshaped the region. The Goshen Trail also ran along the town’s edge, linking Eldorado to the old routes through southeastern Illinois. These days the tracks are largely gone from the center, but the town’s local story still reads through the depot, the trail, and the coal country around it.