Eldorado Grew on Ranching, Wool, and Oil

Schleicher County was created in 1887 from Crockett County and named after Gustav Schleicher, a surveyor and early Texas official. The county was not formally organized until 1901. That same year, Eldorado became the county seat. W. B. Silliman had founded Eldorado in 1895 by offering free town lots to draw settlers from a nearby community called Verand.

Ranching defined the economy from the start, with sheep eclipsing cattle by the 1910s. The Kansas City, Mexico and Orient Railway reached Eldorado in 1930, giving ranchers better access to markets. West Texas Woolen Mills opened in 1941. Commercial oil production began in 1934, and by the 1970s oil and gas taxes were paying for 60 to 70 percent of local school costs. Today Eldorado sits at the crossroads of U.S. 190 and U.S. 277, about 45 miles south of San Angelo.