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Boom Towns is a free printable Grade 3 to Grade 5 social studies worksheet on towns that grew around a resource or a railhead, aligned to C3 Framework indicator D2.Geo.8.3-5. It prints 2 questions with an answer key on its own sheet of paper, in 25 versions that each ask different questions, so no two students in the class work from the same page. Print it from the browser or download it as a PDF — no account, no email.

Set 14 of 25 · the same problems every time you open this link.

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Set 1 has all 25 in a single PDF. All 25 sets ask different questions.

Boom Towns

D2.Geo.8.3-5

NameDate

Draw a line from each town to the reason it boomed.

1.Draw a line from each one to its match.
  • Deadwood, South Dakota, 1876
  • Virginia City, Nevada, 1859
  • Dodge City, Kansas, 1872
  • Titusville, Pennsylvania, 1859
  • A.Where the first commercial oil well in the US was drilled
  • B.Grew over the Comstock Lode, a huge find of silver
  • C.Grew as a market where hunters sold bison hides to ship east by rail
  • D.Grew after gold was found in the Black Hills, on Lakota land
2.Draw a line from each one to its match.
  • Butte, Montana, 1880s
  • Sacramento, California, 1849
  • Abilene, Kansas, 1867
  • Beaumont, Texas, 1901
  • A.Grew around some of the world's richest copper mines
  • B.Boomed after the Spindletop oil gusher
  • C.Grew as the supply town for miners near Sutter's Mill
  • D.A railhead where cowboys drove cattle north on the Chisholm Trail

LessonPrint · D2.Geo.8.3-5 · Set 14 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Boom Towns

Set 14. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. Deadwood, South Dakota, 1876 — D (Grew after gold was found in the Black Hills, on Lakota land) 2. Virginia City, Nevada, 1859 — B (Grew over the Comstock Lode, a huge find of silver) 3. Dodge City, Kansas, 1872 — C (Grew as a market where hunters sold bison hides to ship east by rail) 4. Titusville, Pennsylvania, 1859 — A (Where the first commercial oil well in the US was drilled)
  2. 2.1. Butte, Montana, 1880s — A (Grew around some of the world's richest copper mines) 2. Sacramento, California, 1849 — C (Grew as the supply town for miners near Sutter's Mill) 3. Abilene, Kansas, 1867 — D (A railhead where cowboys drove cattle north on the Chisholm Trail) 4. Beaumont, Texas, 1901 — B (Boomed after the Spindletop oil gusher)

Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to D2.Geo.8.3-5 of the C3 Framework for Social Studies State Standards.