Historic Towns - continued
San Andreas
Named for St. Andrew (San Andreas) Roman Catholic Church, erected in 1852. Built with canvas and a simple cross over the door designating it a church, it was the first church built in this town. Mexican Gold Miners settled San Andreas in 1848 and by 1850 over 1000 tents peppered the hillsides. San Andreas was a gold producing town sometimes hampered by the lack of water in the channels until the miner's ditches were completed. In August 1852 the large San Andreas Nugget was found in a claim north of where the town is located and sold to the Wells Fargo Company for $12,000. Over $50,000 in gold dust was shipped in 1859. Two notorious names come to mind when you think of San Andreas and the gold rush, Black Bart and Joaquin Murieta. The jail that held Black Bart, aka Charles Bolton for a crime he committed at Funk Hill, still stands and is a part of the Calaveras County Historical Museum Complex. In 1866, the County Seat was moved to San Andreas from Mokelumne Hill. San Andreas offers an historic walking tour. Visit 42 historic buildings and sites. Pick up map at Calaveras County Visitors Center.
Valley Springs
In 1885 Valley Springs was the furthest west you could travel on the San Joaquin and Sierra Nevada Narrow Gauge Railroad. The railroad brought freight and passengers from the Valley and beyond. Once reaching Valley Springs horses and wagons were the means of transportation. But in 1888 the Southern Pacific Railroad bought the line and rail travel was extended further than the County Seat in San Andreas.
West Point
According to a historical landmark on Hwy 26 near Main Street in West Point, Kit Carson named the area as he traveled with Captain John Fremont while searching for a pass over the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range. In the 1850's a group of men searching for gold in the Mother Lode started West Point declaring it to be an isolated area and on the road to nowhere.