San Andreas, California

San Andreas ( Californio Spanish for "St. Andrew") is an unincorporated census-designated place and the county seat of Calaveras County, California. The population was 2,994 at the 2020 census, up from 2,783 at the 2010 census. 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 1852, 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 , of which, 99.81% is land and 0.19% is water.

Climate

San Andreas has a Mediterranean climate typical of the Sierra Nevada foothills. Winters are cool and wet with mild days, chilly nights, and substantial rainfall. Summers are hot and dry with very hot days, cool nights, and minimal rainfall. Due to the orographic effect, rainfall in all seasons is significantly greater than on the valley floor to the west.

Demographics

The 2020 United States census reported that San Andreas had a population of 2,994. The population density was . The racial makeup of San Andreas was 80.1% White, 1.2% African American, 1.8% Native American, 1.8% Asian, 0.3% Pacific Islander, 4.4% from other races, and 10.5% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 12.2% of the population.

The census reported that 92.4% of the population lived in households, 1.0% lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 6.6% were institutionalized.

There were 1,172 households, out of which 24.7% included children under the age of 18, 37.3% were married-couple households, 8.6% were cohabiting couple households, 34.9% had a female householder with no partner present, and 19.2% had a male householder with no partner present. 33.7% of households were one person, and 20.0% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.36. There were 671 families (57.3% of all households).

The age distribution was 20.2% under the age of 18, 5.9% aged 18 to 24, 22.6% aged 25 to 44, 25.6% aged 45 to 64, and 25.7% who were 65years of age or older. The median age was 46.2years. For every 100 females, there were 97.5 males.

There were 1,296 housing units at an average density of , of which 1,172 (90.4%) were occupied. Of these, 59.0% were owner-occupied, and 41.0% were occupied by renters.

Politics

In the state legislature, San Andreas is in , and . Federally, San Andreas is in .

References

External links

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Census-designated places in Calaveras County, California
California Historical Landmarks
County seats in California
Populated places established in 1848
Census-designated places in California