Prior to the discovery of gold on the Witwatersrand in 1886, the suburb lay on land on one of the original farms called Rietfontein.

[2] It became a suburb on 26 July 1944 and became part of Johannesburg on 10 October 1944, named after Sandringham House in England.

In 1955 work began on the new Witwatersrand Jewish Aged Home and Home for the Chronically Ill, described by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency as 'the largest institution of its kind in Africa and one of the most modern in the world.'

The building was erected at an estimated cost of 500,000 pounds, ($1;400,000) and be dedicated to the Jewish victims of the Shoah in Europe.

[4] The suburb is also home to the Chevra kadisha (Johannesburg Jewish Helping Hand and Burial Society).