In 1868 the bid of Dr. Hoerchner, who had ran a county hospital near Mokelumne Hill, was rejected by the county. The people of San Andreas collected money and 2 parcels of land were purchased for a county hospital. The larger of the parcels had a 2 story house which was called the Gold Hill House and it was used for the hospital. In January of 1869, 19 patients were transferred from the hospital near Mokelumne Hill to the Gold Hill House Hospital. By May of 1869 the hospital held 29 patients, with 10 having died since January. To bury the indigent dead, a cemetery was started NW of the hospital building.
In 1871 this hospital building burnt down and another 2 story building was erected on the adjacent 2nd parcel purchased 2 years earlier. This hospital was also called Gold Hill House Hospital. It held about 40-45 beds and served as the county hospital for 19 years with the cemetery continuing to be used during those years. In 1886 a description of the hospital said it was surrounded by a white picket fence and had flower beds and trees surrounding it, making it look like a lovely home.
Early in 1891 the third county hospital was opened and the buildings on the 2 parcels of the old hospital were moved or torned down, and the property was sold at auction by the county in 1891 with the space where the cemetery was located being fenced and reserved from the sale. The land sold again in 1904, that time with no mention of a cemetery and there is no sign of the exact location on that parcel today. Headstones were never installed but, in 1884, the county supervisors ordered the hospital steward to place wood markers that were numbered on each grave and to keep records of who was in each numbered plot. There is no sign of these wood markers now. The hospital was also ordered to start publishing the names of the deceased in the newspapers. In many cases there is no firm proof that a person was buried in a paupers cemetery but they were assumed to be if they died in a county hospital with no proof of burial elsewhere, especially if elderly and alone.
The Gold Hill House hospital cemetery was located on the outskirts of San Andreas, toward the current Hwy. 49 intersection with Hwy. 12. The large parcel that held the cemetery was on the right side of the highway as you go toward Valley Springs and the smaller parcel was on the opposite side of current Hwy 49, with Pool Station Road being one boundary. The smaller parcel was about 15 acres.