Thorn House (San Andreas, California)

The Calaveras County Courthouse is a historic courthouse building in San Andreas, California. The brick courthouse was built in 1867 and contained the county's courtroom, jail, and sheriff's office; until 1888, executions were also conducted in the building. The county's Hall of Records was built in front of the courthouse in 1893; the two buildings nearly touch and are considered part of the same complex. The building's jail held outlaw Black Bart, a notorious Northern California highwayman, during his 1883 trial. In 1966, the county moved its courthouse to a new building; the old courthouse is now the Calaveras County Museum, which is operated by the Calaveras County Historical Society.The Calaveras County Courthouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places on February 28, 1972.

San Andreas (Spanish for "St. Andrew") is an unincorporated census-designated place and the county seat of Calaveras County, California. The population was 2,783 at the 2010 census, up from 2,615 at the 2000 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.

The John J. Snyder House is a historic house located at 247 W. St. Charles Street in San Andreas, California. Built in 1895, the house was designed in the Queen Anne style; it has been called "one of the largest and finest" houses in the style in Calaveras County. The front of the house has a raised central entrance with a porch; the porch's frieze is made up of turned spindles. A slanted bay with a large circular window is situated next to the entrance. The house has a gablet roof with a smaller gable over the front bay; the small gable includes a fan-shaped window surrounded by a roughcast infill decorated with colored glass and stones.John J. Snyder, the house's first owner, was an early settler of San Andreas who later became a district attorney in the area. Snyder lived in the house until his 1899 death. Snyder's wife Elizabeth lived in the house until 1938, after which the house became a rental property.The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places on August 2, 1984.

The Superior Court of California, County of Calaveras, also known as the Calaveras County Superior Court, is the branch of the California superior court with jurisdiction over Calaveras County.

The Pioneer Cemetery, formerly known as the North Branch Cemetery, is a defunct cemetery established in c. 1851, and located along California State Route 12 in San Andreas, Calaveras County, California. It is the oldest known cemetery in Calaveras County.The site is listed as a California Historical Landmark (number 271), by the California Office of Historic Preservation since September 3, 1937.

Chili Gulch (also spelled Chile Gulch) is a gulch in Calaveras County, California. This five-mile gulch was the richest placer mining section in Calaveras County. It received its name from Chileans who worked it in 1848 and 1849, and was the scene of the so-called Chilean War. The largest known quartz crystals were recovered from a mine on the south side of the gulch. Chili Gulch is registered as California Historical Landmark #265.

Willow Creek is a stream in Calaveras County, California. It was the site of an arson fire in 2016.

Fourth Crossing (formerly, Foremans) is an unincorporated community in Calaveras County, California. It lies at an elevation of 922 feet (281 m) and is located on State Route 49 at 38°07′53″N 120°38′05″W. The community is in ZIP code 95248 and area code 209. Located on San Antonio Creek, the town was originally named Foremans, after its founder David Foreman, but became known as Fourth Crossing, as it was located at the fourth river crossing on the Stockton–Murphys Road. Foreman had established a ferry to cross the river, which they replaced with a toll bridge. The bridge is still standing to the west of the bridge that Hwy. 49 runs on. The town was famous in the 1850s for its rich placer ores, which were replaced by lode mining. After the gold ran out, the town continued to operate as an important stagecoach and freighting depot, serving the southern mines until after the turn of the 20th century. The county's first Justice Court was established here, complete with a Justice of the Peace. Today the town is little more than a few buildings and it is registered as California Historical Landmark #258.A post office was opened in 1855 and discontinued in 1888; re-established in 1892 and closed for good in 1925.

Calaveritas ("little skulls" in Spanish; formerly, Upper Calaveritas) is an unincorporated community in Calaveras County, California. It sits on the banks of the Calaveritas Creek at an elevation of 1,109 feet (338 m) above sea level and is located at 38°09′29″N 120°36′36″W. The community is in ZIP code 95249 and area code 209. Founded by Mexicans in 1849, the mining camp was relatively successful and by 1853, Calaveritas was well established, with one livery stable, two butcher shops, several general stores, restaurants, saloons, gambling halls, and fandango houses. Notorious bandit Joaquin Murrieta was supposedly a frequent visitor to the latter two. The town reached its peak in 1857, with an estimated population of around 800, the majority being Mexican or Chinese, but on August 3, 1858, a fire destroyed some of the buildings. By this time, the gold production had declined and some of its inhabitants moved to other locales. The town today is registered as California Historical Landmark #255.Early on, the town was called Upper Calaveritas to distinguish it from another settlement Lower Calaveritas about 3.5 miles to the west. Lower Calaveritas has since become abandoned.

Calaveras County ( ), officially the County of Calaveras, is a county in both the Gold Country and High Sierra regions of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 45,292. The county seat is San Andreas. Angels Camp is the county's only incorporated city. Calaveras is Spanish for "skulls"; the county was reportedly named for the remains of Native Americans discovered by the Spanish explorer Captain Gabriel Moraga. Calaveras Big Trees State Park, a preserve of giant sequoia trees, is in the county several miles east of the town of Arnold on State Highway 4. Credit for the discovery of giant sequoias there is given to Augustus T. Dowd, a trapper who made the discovery in 1852 while tracking a bear. When the bark from the "Discovery Tree" was removed and taken on tour around the world, the trees became a worldwide sensation and one of the county's first tourist attractions. The uncommon gold telluride mineral calaverite was discovered in the county in 1861 and is named for it. Mark Twain set his story "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" in the county. The county hosts an annual fair and Jumping Frog Jubilee, featuring a frog-jumping contest, to celebrate the association with Twain's story. Each year's winner is commemorated with a brass plaque mounted in the sidewalk of downtown Historic Angels Camp and this feature is known as the Frog Hop of Fame. In 2015, Calaveras County had the highest rate of suicide deaths in the United States, with 49.1 per 100,000 people.

Mountain Ranch (formerly, El Dorado and El Dorado Town) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Calaveras County, California, United States. The population was 1,628 at the 2010 census, up from 1,557 at the 2000 census. The town is registered as California Historical Landmark #282. The town center is quite small with fewer than 50 people living in it. The 5 mile square area surrounding the town accounts for the balance of the population.

Altaville (Alta, Spanish for "Upper" and Ville, French for "town") is a former unincorporated community in Calaveras County, California, now located in the northwest portion of the city of Angels Camp. It sits at an elevation of 1,542 feet (470 m) above sea level and is located at 38°05′02″N 120°33′43″W, at the intersections of SR 49 and SR 4. The community is in ZIP code 95221 and area code 209. The town was established in 1852 on Cherokee Creek and was known variously as Cherokee Flat, Forks-of-the Road, Low Divide, and Winterton over its history. Notorious bandit Joaquin Murrieta supposedly spent so much time here that a mountain northwest of the creek was named Joaquin Mountain. Although gold was discovered here in 1854, it didn't last long, but the town survived due to its position as an important point for supplies and machinery. D.D. Demerest established a foundry here in 1854, and others soon followed. Most of the stamp mills and a large part of the mining machinery erected in Calaveras and Tuolumne Counties were built at the Altaville Foundry. A brick schoolhouse was built at Altaville in 1858 and the townsite was established in 1873. A post office was established in 1904, closed in 1943, and re-established in 1944.Altaville was also the site of an archaeological hoax, the Calaveras Skull. The town today is registered as California Historical Landmark #288.