boom town
Rapidly growing settlement
A boom town is a place that grows rapidly due to sudden economic opportunity—typically from discovering natural resources like gold, oil, or minerals.
The population swells as workers flood in seeking fortune: San Francisco was a boom town during the Gold Rush.
Boom towns often decline just as quickly when the resource depletes or the industry moves on.
Those who establish homes
- pioneersFirst to explore territory
- homesteadersLand-claiming rural settlers
- outpostRemote military station
- territoryLand under jurisdiction
wilderness · expansion · westward · trailblazers · wagon train · land rush · saloon · general store
Ore extractors
- prospectorsMineral deposit searchers
- wildcattersExploratory oil drillers
- drillingHole-making by rotation
- derrickMovable boom apparatus
claims · staking · goldfield · oilfield · gusher · motherlode · strike · bonanza
Failure or sculpture
- ephemeralLasting very briefly
- fleetingPassing very quickly
- impermanentNot meant to last
- makeshiftTemporary, improvised substitute
short-lived · volatile · unsettled · collapse · abandonment · decline · exodus · deserted
Increase in size
- wealthAbundance of valuable resources
- investmentDeploying capital for returns
- entrepreneurshipCreating and managing ventures
- commerceExchange of goods, services
trade · speculation · development · influx · opportunity · fortune-seekers · merchants · real estate
settlers
Those who establish homes
- pioneersFirst to explore territory
- homesteadersLand-claiming rural settlers
- outpostRemote military station
territory · wilderness · expansion · westward · trailblazers · wagon train · land rush · saloon · general store · lawlessness
miners
Ore extractors
- prospectorsMineral deposit searchers
- wildcattersExploratory oil drillers
- drillingHole-making by rotation
derrick · claims · staking · goldfield · oilfield · gusher · motherlode · strike · bonanza · discovery
bust
Failure or sculpture
- ephemeralLasting very briefly
- fleetingPassing very quickly
- impermanentNot meant to last
makeshift · short-lived · volatile · unsettled · collapse · abandonment · decline · exodus · deserted · ruins
growth
Increase in size
- wealthAbundance of valuable resources
- investmentDeploying capital for returns
- entrepreneurshipCreating and managing ventures
commerce · trade · speculation · development · influx · opportunity · fortune-seekers · merchants · real estate · construction
- mining townsmining camp, boomtown, Leadville, Virginia City, Tombstone
- Old Westcowboy, cowboys, cowgirl, sheriff, sheriffs
- Westernscowboys, western, outlaws, sheriffs, western novels
- Wild Westcowboy, howdy, sheriff, giddyup, lawmen
- city typescapital, metropolis, megacity, port city, coastal city
- frontier towngeneral store, saloon, sheriff's office, livery stable, hitching post
boom townghost town
Deserted former inhabited place
dying town · abandoned town · abandoned settlement · deserted town
boom townghost town
Deserted former inhabited place
backwater · deserted town · one-horse town · forgotten town · old town
town, boom, booming, township, boomed, boomer, boomers, sonic boom, baby boomer