In August 1908, fifty-eight families of displaced Afrikaners left Nakuru for the Uasin Gishu plateau after a journey from South Africa by sea and by rail from Mombasa.

Led by Jan van Rensburg, they traveled using wagons that would often get stuck in mud, finally arriving at Sergoit Hill [1] on 22 October of that year.

The land had earlier been surveyed by a certain van Breda and the new arrivals took up leaseholds of between 320 and 2,020 hectares (800 and 5,000 acres) on condition that they would develop it within five years.

[13] The governor decided to establish an administrative centre in the area in 1912 and thus the Post Office was renamed from "64" to a new official town name: "Eldoret".

The country's second institution of higher learning, Moi University, was established by the government in 1984 and the third international airport was subsequently constructed, significantly boosting the fortunes of the town.

On 1 January 2008, a mob attacked and set fire to a church located near Burnt Forest, a satellite town of Eldoret.

William Ruto the current President of the Republic of Kenya was born in Kamagut Ward of Turbo Constituency that straddles Eldoret town.

Some of the estates include Elgon View, Langas, Kapseret, Huruma, Kapsoya, Shauri, Kipkorgot, Kahoya, West Indies, West, Kipkaren, Kimumu, Jerusalem, Annex, Mwanzo,Hawaii, Action, Mailinne, Pioneer, Outspan, Kiplombe, Kamkunji, Samar, Silas, Kenya Service, Cheplaskei, Chinese, Road Block, Peris, Junction, Munyaka, Hillside, Eldoville, Juniorate among many others.

[22] The city is home to a large market and is known for the Doinyo Lessos cheese factory, Moi University and Eldoret International Airport.

Moses Kiptanui is a stake holder in one of the largest buildings, Komora, that houses a large supermarket chain and many offices.

It is the first, fully integrated textile manufacturing company in East and Central Africa and has been based in Eldoret for close to 50 years.

[24] The city of Eldoret, through Moi University and its subsidiary firm Rivatex, has played a leading role in the revival of the Kenyan textile industry.

[24] Being able to produce affordable dye in Kenya has been a key contributing factor to the revival of Rivatex East Africa and the wider Kenyan textile industry.

The city is also home to the Kenya Ordnance Factories Corporation since 1997, a military installation that was the first manufacturer of small arms and ammunition in the region.

Its customers include the Kenya Police, Wildlife Service, the Army, licensed dealers and carriers as well as friendly governments.

The Toyota Tsusho Corporation built Kenya's first full scale fertilizer blending factory at Ngeria on the outskirts of Eldoret.

[30] The town is also home to the MGW site, located at Kapsoya, the first of Safaricom's data centre in the North Rift, set up in 2015.

[36] The town and its surrounding regions has also lately grown into a sports tourism destination thanks to a number of residents, renowned world runners and a high-altitude that makes the local area suitable for athletics training.

[36] To the north lies the town of Iten, capital of Elgeyo Marakwet county and the world's foremost source of elite-middle and long distance runners.

Notably, altitude training here was a key element of Mo Farah's preparations before his 5000m and 10000m gold medals at London 2012 and World Championships 2013.

It has become the place to go to fly 100–200 km (62–124 mi) out-and-returns in January with world records across both distances having been set in the Kerio Valley in 2013 and 2014 respectively.

[39] The Champions Monument is situated at the junction of Kaptagat and Nairobi roads and was erected in honour of retired, elite and upcoming athletes in the country.

[40] Located some 25 kilometres (16 mi) away from Eldoret at a point where the River Sosiani plunges 100 metres (330 ft) from the plateau and over a granite escarpment is the Chepkiit Waterfalls.

[42] The Eldoret Arboretum is located next to the Kipchoge Keino stadium and is jointly managed by the County Government of Uasin Gishu and the Kenya Forest Service (KFS).

[43] The arboretum hosts a Wall of Fame that features the names of legendary and elite Kenyan athletes, most of whom come from the surrounding regions.

[44] Situated north-east of Eldoret at the high altitude of 2,400 m above sea level, the small town of Iten is known for its regional honey, being home to training camps for international athletes and the viewpoints of the Great Rift Valley.

Also in 2015, a new out patient cancer treatment centre was opened at the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital, funded principally by Ruth Lily, an American philanthropist.

Situated at 6,941 feet (2,116 m) above sea level,[51] the airport has a single asphalt runway that measures 3,475 metres (11,401 ft) in length.

Railway presence in these towns created a reliable means of transporting farm produce, thus leading to their growth and development as the colony’s bread baskets.

Once it goes into commercial operation, scheduled for March 2020, approximately 123.6GWh of clean electricity will be injected into the grid every year, enough to meet the annual energy consumption needs of over 824,000 Kenyans.