San Andreas CA Area Overview

Like most of Calaveras County, it was developed during the California Gold Rush and named after the Catholic Perish Saint Andrew when gold miners settled in this camp in 1848. The camp became the town of San Andreas in 1853, when an underground river channel containing large veins of gold was discovered.

San Andreas is on the register of California Historical Landmarks, Mark Twain Hospital is located here and the town is situated in the rolling foothills along Route 49. If you plan a visit, don’t miss the Calaveras County Museum and Historical Society where you can see the Hall of Record Historic Court House and jail yard. It is said that the stagecoach robbing outlaw Black Bark was tried in San Andreas, convicted and then sentenced to six years in San Quentin Prison.