mining towns
Excavation site communities
Mining towns are settlements that develop around mining operations, their economies and populations tied to mineral extraction.
They may boom when ore is discovered and bust when deposits run dry, leaving ghost towns behind.
The old mining towns of the American West now survive mainly on tourism.
The term often carries connotations of rough frontier life, transient populations, and cycles of prosperity and decline.
- gold rushMass migration seeking ore
- pay dirtValuable ore deposit
- boomtownsFast-growing frontier settlements
- boom and bustRecurring economic extremes
- shanty townInformal settlement of makeshift dwellings
canary in a coal mine · ethnic enclaves · smelting · worker housing · labor unions · railroads · saloons · open-pit mines · migrant workers · mineshafts · historical preservation · underground tunnels · industrial revolution · subsistence living · colonial exploitation · frontier · pickaxe · claim jumper
- Copperbeltcopper mines, Zambia, copper production, copper ore, cobalt
- Goldfieldsgoldfields, gold mines, prospecting, prospectors, gold nuggets
- 1800s AmericaOregon Trail, Trail of Tears, transcontinental railroad, Civil War, Abraham Lincoln
- Australian Geographystates, territories, New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland
- Old Westcowboy, cowboys, cowgirl, sheriff, sheriffs
- Westernscowboys, western, outlaws, sheriffs, western novels
mining townsfarming communities
Groups organized around cultivation
fishing villages · resort towns · college towns · university towns · tourist destinations
mining townseco-villages
Sustainable intentional communities
nature preserves · sustainable communities · conservation areas · retreat centers · spa towns
mining townsmetropolitan areas
Cities plus surrounding communities
commercial centers · trading hubs · bedroom communities · suburban developments