A boomtown is a community that undergoes sudden and rapid population and

economic growth Economic growth can be defined as the increase or improvement in the inflation-adjusted market value of the goods and services produced by an economy in a financial year. Statisticians conventionally measure such growth as the percent rate of ...

, or that is started from scratch. The growth is normally attributed to the nearby discovery of a precious resource such as gold, silver, or oil, although the term can also be applied to communities growing very rapidly for different reasons, such as a proximity to a major

metropolitan area A metropolitan area or metro is a region that consists of a densely populated urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories sharing industries, commercial areas, transport network, infrastructures and housing. A metro area usually com ...

, huge construction project, or attractive climate.

First boomtowns

Early boomtowns, such as Leeds, Liverpool, and Manchester, experienced a dramatic surge in population and economic activity during the Industrial Revolution at the turn of the 19th century. In pre-industrial England these towns had been relative backwaters, compared to the more important market towns of Bristol, Norwich, and York, but they soon became major urban and industrial centres. Although these boomtowns did not directly owe their sudden growth to the discovery of a local natural resource, the factories were set up there to take advantage of the excellent

Midlands The Midlands (also referred to as Central England) are a part of England that broadly correspond to the Kingdom of Mercia of the Early Middle Ages, bordered by Wales, Northern England and Southern England. The Midlands were important in the Ind ...

infrastructure and the availability of large seams of cheap coal for fuel. Another typical boom town is Trieste in Italy. In the 19th century the free port and the opening of the

Suez Canal The Suez Canal ( arz, قَنَاةُ ٱلسُّوَيْسِ, ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia. The long canal is a popular ...

began an extremely strong economic development. At the beginning of the First World War, the former fishing village with a deep-water port, which used to be small but geographically centrally located, was the third largest city of the

Habsburg monarchy The Habsburg monarchy (german: Habsburgermonarchie, ), also known as the Danubian monarchy (german: Donaumonarchie, ), or Habsburg Empire (german: Habsburgerreich, ), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities ...

. Due to the many new borders, World War II and the Cold War, the city was completely isolated, abandoned and shrunk for a long time. The handling of goods in the port and property prices fell sharply. Only when the surrounding countries joined the EU did Trieste return to the economic center of Europe. In the mid-19th century, boomtowns that were based on natural resources began to proliferate as companies and individuals discovered new mining prospects across the world. The

California Gold Rush The California Gold Rush (1848–1855) was a gold rush that began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California fro ...

of the Western United States stimulated numerous boomtowns in that period, as settlements seemed to spring up overnight in the river valleys, mountains, and deserts around what was thought to be valuable gold mining country. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, boomtowns called

mill town A mill town, also known as factory town or mill village, is typically a settlement that developed around one or more mills or factories, usually cotton mills or factories producing textiles. Europe Italy * ''Crespi d'Adda'', UNESCO World Her ...

s would quickly arise due to sudden expansions in the timber industry; they tended to last the decade or so it took to

clearcut Clearcutting, clearfelling or clearcut logging is a forestry/logging practice in which most or all trees in an area are uniformly cut down. Along with shelterwood and seed tree harvests, it is used by foresters to create certain types of forest ...

nearby forests. Modern-day examples of resource-generated boomtowns include Fort McMurray in Canada, as the extraction of nearby oilsands requires a vast number of workers, and Johannesburg in South Africa, based on the gold and diamond trade.

Attributes

Boomtowns are typically characterized as "overnight expansions" in both population and money, as people stream into the community for mining prospects, high-paying jobs, attractive amenities or climate, or other opportunities. Typically, newcomers are drawn by high salaries or the prospect of "striking it rich" in mining; meanwhile, numerous indirect businesses develop to cater to workers often eager to spend their large paychecks. Often, boomtowns are the site of both economic prosperity and social disruption, as the local culture and

infrastructure Infrastructure is the set of facilities and systems that serve a country, city, or other area, and encompasses the services and facilities necessary for its economy, households and firms to function. Infrastructure is composed of public and priv ...

, if any, struggles to accommodate the waves of new residents. General problems associated with this fast growth can include: doctor shortages, inadequate medical and/or educational facilities, housing shortages, sewage disposal problems, and a lack of recreational activities for new residents. The University of Denver separates problems associated with a mining-specific boomtown into three categories: #deteriorating quality of life, as growth in basic industry outruns the local service sector's ability to provide housing, health services, schooling, and retail #declining industrial productivity in mining because of labor turnover, labor shortages, and declining productivity #an underserving by the local service sector in goods and services because capital investment in this sector does not build up adequately The initial increasing population in Perth, Western Australia, Australia (considered to be a modern-day boomtown) gave rise to overcrowding of residential accommodation as well as squatter populations. "The real future of Perth is not in Perth's hands but in Melbourne (and London) where Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton run their organizations", indicating that some boomtowns' growth and sustainability are controlled by an outside entity. Boomtowns are typically extremely dependent on the single activity or resource that is causing the boom (e.g., one or more nearby mines, mills, or resorts), and when the resources are depleted or the resource economy undergoes a "bust" (e.g., catastrophic resource price collapse), boomtowns can often decrease in size as fast as they initially grew. Sometimes, all or nearly the entire population can desert the town, resulting in a ghost town. This can also take place on a planned basis. Since the late 20th century, mining companies have developed temporary communities to service a mine-site, building all the accommodation shops and services, using prefabricated housing or other buildings, making dormitories out of shipping containers, and removed all such structures as the resource was worked out.

Examples

Australia

Canvas town south melbourne victoria 1850s

Ararat Ararat or in Western Armenian Ararad may refer to: Personal names * Ararat ( hy, Արարատ), a common first name for Armenian males (pronounced Ararad in Western Armenian) * Ararat or Araratian, a common family name for Armenians (pronounced A ...

(1850s Victorian Gold Rush) *

Ballarat Ballarat ( ) is a city in the Central Highlands (Victoria), Central Highlands of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 Census, Ballarat had a population of 116,201, making it the third largest city in Victoria. Estimated resid ...

(1850s–1880s Victorian Gold Rush) * Bathurst (1850s

Australian gold rushes During the Australian gold rushes, starting in 1851, significant numbers of workers moved from elsewhere in Australia and overseas to where gold had been discovered. Gold had been found several times before, but the colonial government of Ne ...

) *

Bendigo Bendigo ( ) is a city in Victoria, Australia, located in the Bendigo Valley near the geographical centre of the state and approximately north-west of Melbourne, the state capital. As of 2019, Bendigo had an urban population of 100,991, makin ...

(1850s–1880s Victorian Gold Rush) *

Broken Hill Broken Hill is an inland mining city in the far west of outback New South Wales, Australia. It is near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Highway (B79), in the Barrier Range. It is ...

(1880s silver– lead– zinc boom) *

Castlemaine Castlemaine may mean: * Castlemaine, Victoria, a town in Victoria, Australia ** Castlemaine Football Club, an Australian rules football club ** Castlemaine railway station * Castlemaine, County Kerry, a town in Ireland * Castlemaine Brewery, Western ...

(1850s Victorian Gold Rush) * Charters Towers (1870s gold rush) * Gold Coast (1980s–2000s due to internal Australian migration trends) *

Kalgoorlie Kalgoorlie is a city in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia, located east-northeast of Perth at the end of the Great Eastern Highway. It is sometimes referred to as Kalgoorlie–Boulder, as the surrounding urban area includ ...

(1890s gold rush) * Melbourne (1850s–1880s Victorian Gold Rush and associated speculative "land boom") * Perth

Brazil

* Altamira, Pará * Balsas, Maranhão * Brasília, Federal District, development of capital * Goiânia, Goiás * Laranjal do Jari,

Amapá Amapá () is one of the 26 states of Brazil. It is in the northern region of Brazil. It is the second least populous state and the eighteenth largest by area. Located in the far northern part of the country, Amapá is bordered clockwise by Fr ...

* Luís Eduardo Magalhães, Bahia *

Ouro Preto Ouro Preto (, ''Black Gold''), formerly Vila Rica (, ''Rich Village''), is a city in and former capital of the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, a former colonial mining town located in the Serra do Espinhaço mountains and designated a World Herita ...

, Minas Gerais ( Ouro Preto Gold Rush) * Palmas, Tocantins * Parauapebas, Pará * Rondonópolis,

Mato Grosso Mato Grosso ( – lit. "Thick Bush") is one of the states of Brazil, the third largest by area, located in the Central-West region. The state has 1.66% of the Brazilian population and is responsible for 1.9% of the Brazilian GDP. Neighboring ...

* Serra Pelada District, Curionópolis, Pará ( Serra Pelada Gold Rush) * Sinop,

* Sorriso,

* Tucuruí, Pará * São Paulo, São Paulo

Canada

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

, Alberta (during the 1970s

oil boom An oil boom is a period of large inflow of income as a result of high global oil prices or large oil production in an economy. Generally, this short period initially brings economic benefits, in terms of increased GDP growth, but might later lead ...

in the province of Alberta) * Dawson City, Yukon (Klondike Gold Rush) * Edmonton, Alberta *

Elliot Lake Elliot Lake is a city in Algoma District, Ontario, Canada. It is north of Lake Huron, midway between the cities of Sudbury and Sault Ste. Marie in the Northern Ontario region. Once dubbed the "uranium capital of the world," Elliot Lake has since ...

, Ontario *

Estevan Estevan is the eighth-largest city in Saskatchewan, Canada. It is approximately north of the Canada–United States border. The Souris River runs by the city. This city is surrounded by the Rural Municipality of Estevan No. 5. History The ...

, Saskatchewan * Faro, Yukon * Fisherville, British Columbia (gold rush boom town of 1864–1865) * Barkerville, British Columbia * Fort McMurray, Alberta, oil *

Greater Sudbury Sudbury, officially the City of Greater Sudbury is the largest city in Northern Ontario by population, with a population of 166,004 at the 2021 Canadian Census. By land area, it is the largest in Ontario and the List of the largest cities and to ...

, Ontario * Halifax, Nova Scotia, as a port city during the First World War, prior to The Halifax Explosion *

Kirkland Lake Kirkland Lake is a town and municipality in Timiskaming District in Northeastern Ontario, Canada. The 2016 population, according to Statistics Canada, was 7,981. The community name was based on a nearby lake which in turn was named after Winnifre ...

, Ontario * Oil Springs, Ontario *

Petrolia, Ontario Petrolia is a town in southwestern Ontario, Canada. It is part of Lambton County and is surrounded by Enniskillen Township. It is billed as "Canada's Victorian Oil Town" and is often credited with starting the oil industry in North America, a ...

* Sept-Îles, a city in the Côte-Nord region of eastern Québec, Canada *

Shawinigan Shawinigan () is a city located on the Saint-Maurice River in the Mauricie area in Quebec, Canada. It had a population of 49,349 as of the 2016 Canadian census. Shawinigan is also a territory equivalent to a regional county municipality (TE) an ...

, Quebec *

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, Nova Scotia * Yellowknife,

Northwest Territory The Northwest Territory, also known as the Old Northwest and formally known as the Territory Northwest of the River Ohio, was formed from unorganized western territory of the United States after the American Revolutionary War. Established in 1 ...

United Kingdom

* Aberdeen, North Sea oil boom, known as the "oil capital of Europe" * Barrow-in-Furness, late 19th and early 20th centuries as the world's largest steelworks and major

shipyard A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance a ...

* Belfast, Northern Ireland, fastest-growing settlement in the British Isles in the 19th century due to industry and its port *

Consett Consett is a town in County Durham, England, about south-west of Newcastle upon Tyne. It had a population of 27,394 in 2001 and an estimate of 25,812 in 2019. History Consett sits high on the edge of the Pennines. Its' name originates in the ...

, *

Jarrow Jarrow ( or ) is a town in South Tyneside in the county of Tyne and Wear, England. It is east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is situated on the south bank of the River Tyne, about from the east coast. It is home to the southern portal of the Tyne ...

, * Leeds, * Liverpool, industry and shipping, emigrants * Manchester, rapid economic growth in the early 19th century * Preston, Lancashire, the boomtown of the Industrial Revolution *

Winster Winster is a village in the English Derbyshire Dales about from Matlock and from Bakewell at an altitude of approximately . It was formerly a centre for the lead mining industry. The village lies within the Peak District National Park and The ...

, Derbyshire, England (17th century lead mining community)

United States

* Anderson, Indiana, automotive industry * Atlanta, Georgia (rapidly rebuilt and became a commercial center in the years following the Civil War) *

Atlantic City, New Jersey Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020, the city had a population of 38,497.

resort boomtown, 1870–1940 *

Basic City, Virginia Basic City was an town, incorporated town located in Augusta County, Virginia, in the United States. Formed in 1890, it was named after a process for steel manufacture. This process was to be implemented in Basic City, and gave rise to land specul ...

, railroads and mining, 1880s–1900s *

Beaumont, Texas Beaumont is a coastal city in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat, seat of government of Jefferson County, Texas, Jefferson County, within the Beaumont–Port Arthur, Texas, Port Arthur Beaumont–Port Arthur metropolitan area, metropo ...

, oil * Belleville, California, gold-mining boomtown, 1860–1870 * Birmingham, Alabama, coal and iron ore, 1880s * Bodie, California * Borger, Texas * Buffalo, New York, shipping via Erie Canal, steel production, 1825–1890 * Burkburnett, Texas *

Butte, Montana Butte ( ) is a consolidated city-county and the county seat of Silver Bow County, Montana, United States. In 1977, the city and county governments consolidated to form the sole entity of Butte-Silver Bow. The city covers , and, according to the ...

, copper and other resources *

Caldwell, Kansas Caldwell is a city in Sumner County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 1,025. History Near Caldwell is a precontact Plains Village period settlement called the Buresh site, which has yielded clues ...

Central City, Colorado The historic City of Central, commonly known as Central City, is a home rule municipality located in Gilpin and Clear Creek counties, Colorado, United States. Central City is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Gilpin County. ...

* Chicago, Illinois, railroads, commodity resources, business * Cincinnati, Ohio, trade, shipping * Colstrip, Montana *

Columbia, California Columbia is a census-designated place (CDP) located in the Sierra Nevada foothills in Tuolumne County, California, United States. It was founded as a boomtown in 1850 when gold was found during the California Gold Rush, and was known as the "Ge ...

* Cripple Creek, Colorado * Deadwood, South Dakota * Denver, Colorado * Detroit, Michigan rise of the automobile industry, 1910–1950 * Dodge City, Kansas * El Paso, Texas * Elkhart, Indiana recreational vehicle and manufactured housing industry *

Ellsworth, Kansas Ellsworth is a city in and the county seat of Ellsworth County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 3,066. Known as a cow town in the 1870s, when the Kansas Pacific Railroad operated a stockyard here f ...

* Endicott, New York ( shoe manufacturing boomtown, 1900s–1920s) * Fairbanks, Alaska, during the Klondike Gold Rush and the building of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline * Gary, Indiana, steel * Gillette, Wyoming * Goldfield, Nevada *

Graysonia, Arkansas Graysonia was once a boomtown in Clark County, Arkansas, United States, but has since become a ghost town. It is located on a dirt road in what is now known locally as "the middle of nowhere", halfway between Arkadelphia and Alpine. There are no p ...

Guthrie, Oklahoma Guthrie is a city and county seat in Logan County, Oklahoma, United States, and a part of the Oklahoma City Metroplex. The population was 10,191 at the 2010 census, a 2.7 percent increase from the figure of 9,925 in the 2000 census. First kno ...

, oil * Hancock, Michigan * Harrisburg, Illinois *

Holyoke, Massachusetts Holyoke is a city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States, that lies between the western bank of the Connecticut River and the Mount Tom Range. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 38,238. Located north of Springfield ...

, paper, silk and wool textiles, 1860–1914 *

Houghton, Michigan Houghton (; ) is the largest city and seat of government of Houghton County in the U.S. state of Michigan. Located on the Keweenaw Peninsula, Houghton is the largest city in the Copper Country region. It is the fifth-largest city in the Uppe ...

* Humble, Texas * Idaho City, Idaho, gold rush, 1860s *

Jeffrey City, Wyoming Jeffrey City is a former uranium mining boomtown located in Fremont County, in the central part of the U.S. state of Wyoming. The town is known in Wyoming and the American West as symbol of a boomtown that went "bust" very quickly, as the mine wa ...

* Kilgore, Texas * La Paz, Arizona, gold-mining boomtown, 1862–1864 *

Leadville, Colorado The City of Leadville is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Statutory city, statutory city that is the county seat, the most populous community, and the only List of municipalities in Colorado, incorporated municipality in Lake County, Colorad ...

Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

Lumber Industry 1852–1880 *

Newport, Wisconsin Newport is a town in Columbia County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 681 at the 2000 census. The ghost town of Moe Settlement was located in the town. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total are ...

, sprang up because of a bridge expected to be built across the

Wisconsin River The Wisconsin River is a tributary of the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. At approximately 430 miles (692 km) long, it is the state's longest river. The river's name, first recorded in 1673 by Jacques Marquette as "Meskousi ...

there *

New Bedford, Massachusetts New Bedford (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ) is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, Bristol County, Massachusetts. It is located on the Acushnet River in what is known as the South Coast (Massachusetts), South Coast region. Up throug ...

, whaling *

Nome, Alaska Nome (; ik, Sitŋasuaq, ) is a city in the Nome Census Area in the Unorganized Borough of Alaska, United States. The city is located on the southern Seward Peninsula coast on Norton Sound of the Bering Sea. It had a population of 3,699 recorded ...

* Odessa, Texas, oil * Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, steel, trade *

Pocatello, Idaho Pocatello () is the county seat of and largest city in Bannock County, with a small portion on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation in neighboring Power County, in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Idaho. It is the principal city of the ...

, railroad, 1870s–1920s * Richland, Washington * Rochester, New York, starting in the 1820s, with the opening of the Erie Canal * Sacramento, California *

St. Joseph, Florida St. Joseph was a boomtown that briefly became the largest community in Florida, United States, before being abandoned less than eight years after it was founded. St. Joseph was founded in 1835 on the shores of St. Joseph Bay. A brief period of pros ...

* San Francisco, California, US settlement after winning Mexican War * Salt Lake City, Utah * San Luis, Arizona * Seattle, Washington, became a prosperous port city during the Klondike Gold Rush in 1897 subsequently after its great fire which also brought in an influx of jobs and newcomers * Sioux City, Iowa * Tombstone, Arizona * Texarkana, TX/AR * Virginia City, Nevada, silver-mining boomtown, 1860s * Wenatchee, Washington and other towns in the area are currently undergoing massive electrical infrastructure growth to support

bitcoin Bitcoin ( abbreviation: BTC; sign: ₿) is a decentralized digital currency that can be transferred on the peer-to-peer bitcoin network. Bitcoin transactions are verified by network nodes through cryptography and recorded in a public distr ...

mining due to the cheap local electricity * Wentzville, Missouri * Williston, North Dakota, oil

Others

* Batam, Indonesia, free trade *

Carbonia, Italy Carbonia ( ; sc, Crabònia ) is a town and ''comune'' in the Province of South Sardinia, Sardinia, Italy. Along with Iglesias it was a co-capital of the former province of Carbonia-Iglesias, now suppressed. It is located in the south-west of th ...

* Dubai, UAE, oil * Dublin, Ireland * Dunedin, New Zealand due to the 1860s Gold Rush * Bangalore, India– due to outsourcing of call centers and the IT industry * Hyderabad, India– due to outsourcing of call centers and the IT industry *

New Town New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

, Kolkata– due to growth of IT industry * Johannesburg, South Africa * Karachi, Pakistan * Kimberley, South Africa, diamonds and gold * Leipzig, Germany *

Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico Monterrey ( , ) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern state of Nuevo León, Mexico, and the third largest city in Mexico behind Guadalajara and Mexico City. Located at the foothills of the Sierra Madre Oriental, the city is anchor ...

, industrialization due to metallurgic and brewing industries and their related supply chains * Nizhnevartovsk, Russia, oil *

Novosibirsk Novosibirsk (, also ; rus, Новосиби́рск, p=nəvəsʲɪˈbʲirsk, a=ru-Новосибирск.ogg) is the largest city and administrative centre of Novosibirsk Oblast and Siberian Federal District in Russia. As of the Russian Census ...

, Russia, planned development as a scientific and industrial center; hosted evacuated population and industry during World War II *

Roubaix, France Roubaix ( or ; nl, Robaais; vls, Roboais) is a city in northern France, located in the Lille metropolitan area on the Belgian border. It is a historically mono-industrial commune in the Nord department, which grew rapidly in the 19th century ...

Shenzhen, China Shenzhen (; ; ; ), also historically known as Sham Chun, is a major Sub-provincial division, sub-provincial city and one of the Special economic zones of China, special economic zones of China. The city is located on the east bank of the Pea ...

References

External links

{{Authority control Economic growth Types of towns Urban studies and planning terminology