What is Boomtown?
[[File:Canvas town south melbourne victoria 1850s.jpg|thumb|Canvas tents in [[South Melbourne, Victoria|South Melbourne]], during the gold rush of the 1850s. So many people arrived that there were not enough buildings for them to live in.]] A '''boom town''' is a place that has very quick [[population]] and [[economic]] growth. Boomtowns are usually [[mining]] towns where an important [[mineral]] resource such as gold, silver, or [[petroleum]] has been found. It can happen, for example in a [[gold rush]]. Gold rush towns usually shrink and disappear after the gold is dug up. They become [[ghost town]]<nowiki/>s. The word can also be used for places that grow for other reasons. This can be the town being near a major city, in a nice [[climate]] or near a [[wikt:popular|popular]] [[wikt:attraction|attraction]]. Some examples of California boom towns are Columbia (not the country) and San Francisco. {{geo-stub}} [[Category:Types of settlements]]