San Andreas, California, United States

🇺🇸 San Andreas ("St. Andrew") is an unincorporated place and the county seat of Calaveras County, California. Like most towns in the region, it was founded during the California Gold Rush. The town is located on State Route 49 and is registered as California Historical Landmark #252.

History Settled by Mexican gold miners in 1848 and named after the Catholic parish St. Andrew, the town has been a noted mining camp since early days. It existed as a tent city for the first few years, and even included a tent church. A few miles outside of town is the Pioneer Cemetery, established in c. 1851.

In August 1982, a nugget of gold was found here and was sold to Wells Fargo & Co. for US$12,000. The gold from the initially discovered placers gave out after a few years, but the discovery of gold in an underground river channel in 1853 revitalized the camp and it soon became a town. Mining of the channels was lucrative enough for the town to completely rebuild after fires in 1858 and 1863. The gold discovered here contributed greatly to the success of the Union during the Civil War.

In 1866, San Andreas became the seat of Calaveras County. It was said to be a rendezvous location for Joaquin Murrieta. Notorious highwayman Black Bart was tried here and sent to prison.

The post office was established in 1854.

Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 8.4 square miles (22 km²), of which, 99.81% is land and 0.19% is water.