James W. Marshall discovered gold in Coloma on January 24, 1848, and the population of California and what would become El Dorado County, exploded with miners hoping to strike it rich. El Dorado, Spanish for “Golden One”, was one of the original 27 Counties of the State of California, formed by an Act on February 18, 1850. Coloma was the first County seat of El Dorado County, but when the gold began to become scarce the County seat was moved to Placerville in 1857.