Eldorado is a city in Saline County, Illinois, United States. The population was 4,534 at the 2000 census. Although the city's name is spelled as if it were Spanish, the name was "Elder-Reado" -- a combination of the last names of the town's two founders, Judge Samuel Elder and Joseph Read. According to legend, a signpainter for the railroad painted the name "Eldorado" on the train depot; as a result, the spelling and pronunciation was forever changed.

History

In September, 1963, five months before the Beatles' first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show brought them stardom in the United States, George Harrison performed at the Veterans of Foreign Wars hall in Eldorado with a local band. This was the first performance by a Beatle in the United States. At the time Harrison and his brother were visiting their sister, Louise, who had recently relocated with her husband to nearby Benton.

At one time there was an extensive maze of Railroad tracks that arched out from the town's center. All but one are now replaced with bike trails.Eldorado is home to one of the smallest daily newspapers in the US, The Eldorado Daily Journal (circulation 1,200), which is a sister publication to the Harrisburg Daily Register.

In 1925, Dr. J.V. Ferrell founded Ferrell Hospital, which exists today as a 52-bed facility operated by Southern Illinois Healthcare (SIH).Effective March 1, 2004, SIH entered into an agreement with Alliant Management Services to return the hospital to local ownership and governance. On April 1, 2005, Ferrell Hospital Community Foundation became a stand alone facility managed by Alliant Management Services. In 1984, a respected local physician, Dr. John Dale Cavaness, was charged with the murder of his son. The case was chronicled in the book by Darcy O'Brien, "Murder in Little Egypt".