Editing El Dorado, Kansas (section)

==History==
{{See also|History of Kansas}}

El Dorado was laid out and [[plat]]ted in 1868. The name is of Spanish origin meaning "golden land".<ref>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_5zdAAQAAMAAJ | title=Biennial Report of the Board of Directors of the Kansas State Historical Society | publisher=Kansas State Printing Plant | author=Kansas State Historical Society | year=1916 | page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_5zdAAQAAMAAJ/page/n258 151]}}</ref> El Dorado was incorporated in 1870.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_h3YUAAAAYAAJ | title=History of Butler County Kansas | publisher=Standard Publishing Company | author=Mooney, Vol. P. | year=1916 | page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_h3YUAAAAYAAJ/page/n556 120]}}</ref>

In 1877, the [[Florence, El Dorado, and Walnut Valley Railroad Company]] built a branch line from [[Florence, Kansas|Florence]] to El Dorado; in 1881 it was extended to [[Douglass, Kansas|Douglass]], and later to [[Arkansas City, Kansas|Arkansas City]].<ref>''Marion County Kansas : Past and Present''; Sondra Van Meter; MB Publishing House; [[LCCN]] 72-92041; 344 pages; 1972.</ref> The line was leased and operated by the [[Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway]]. The line from Florence to El Dorado was abandoned in 1942.<ref name="Abandon Railway 1942">[http://www.abandonedrails.com/Florence_to_El_Dorado Railway Abandonment 1942]. Abandonedrails.com. Retrieved on January 12, 2017.</ref> The original branch line connected Florence, [[Burns, Kansas|Burns]], [[De Graff, Kansas|De Graff]], El Dorado, [[Augusta, Kansas|Augusta]], Douglass, [[Rock, Kansas|Rock]], [[Akron, Kansas|Akron]], [[Winfield, Kansas|Winfield]] and Arkansas City.

In 1915, the ''El Dorado Oil Field'' was the first oil field that was found using science/geologic mapping, and part of the [[Mid-Continent oil province]].  By 1918, the El Dorado Oil Field was the largest single field producer in the United States, and was responsible for 12.8% of national oil production and 9% of the world production.  It was deemed by some as "the oil field that won [[World War I]]".<ref>[http://www.kansastravel.org/stapletonoilwell.htm Stapleton Oil Well Number 1; Kansas Travel]. Kansastravel.org (October 6, 1915). Retrieved on 2017-01-12.</ref><ref>[http://www.kansassampler.org/8wonders/commerceresults.php?id=138 El Dorado Oil Field; Kansas Oil Museum] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190204231149/http://www.kansassampler.org/8wonders/commerceresults.php?id=138 |date=February 4, 2019 }}. Kansassampler.org (October 6, 1915). Retrieved on 2017-01-12.</ref><ref>[https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/70019374 The discovery and development of the El Dorado oil field; USGS; 1997]. Pubs.er.usgs.gov. Retrieved on January 12, 2017.</ref>

In 1916, there was an anti-black race riot in El Dorado after an incident between a black shoe shiner and a white oil worker. Large numbers of black families removed their household goods and moved out of El Dorado.<ref>{{cite web |title=El Dorado Chased All the Negroes Out of the City |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/19728203/el-dorado-race-riot-more-detail/ |publisher=Arkansas City Daily Traveler |date=December 13, 1916}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Race Riot Trouble Has Been Settled - Blacks Move Out |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/18160344/el-dorado-race-riot-blacks-driven-out/ |publisher=The Wichita Beacon |date=December 15, 1916}}</ref>

In 1943, German and Italian prisoners of [[World War II]] were brought to Kansas and other Midwest states as a means of solving the labor shortage caused by American men serving in the war effort. Large internment camps were established in Kansas: [[Camp Concordia]], Camp Funston (at [[Fort Riley]]), Camp Phillips (at [[Salina, Kansas|Salina]] under [[Fort Riley]]). Fort Riley established 12 smaller branch camps, including El Dorado.<ref>[http://www.gentracer.org/powcampsKS.html List of Prisoner Of War (POW) Camps in Kansas]. Gentracer.org. Retrieved on January 12, 2017.</ref> Prisoners commonly volunteered to help work on local farms; this enabled them to spend time outside the camp, socialize and eat better food than that provided by prison guards. In some cases, smaller structures constructed by the work details still stand.{{citation needed|date=March 2010}}

On June 10, 1958, a tornado hit El Dorado and killed 13 people. In 2008, the city built a memorial at Graham Park in remembrance of the dead.<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20110311093912/http://www.kansas.com/2009/03/26/749196/1958-el-dorado-tornado.html 1958 El Dorado Tornado Photo Collection]}}</ref>