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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 23 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.
  • Sacramento, California, 1849
  • Abilene, Kansas, 1867
  • Beaumont, Texas, 1901
  • Dodge City, Kansas, 1872
  • A.Grew as a market where hunters sold bison hides to ship east by rail
  • B.A railhead where cowboys drove cattle north on the Chisholm Trail
  • C.Grew as the supply town for miners near Sutter's Mill
  • D.Boomed after the Spindletop oil gusher
2.Draw a line from each one to its match.
  • Butte, Montana, 1880s
  • Titusville, Pennsylvania, 1859
  • Virginia City, Nevada, 1859
  • Bodie, California, 1870s
  • A.Grew over the Comstock Lode, a huge find of silver
  • B.Grew around some of the world's richest copper mines
  • C.Where the first commercial oil well in the US was drilled
  • D.A gold-mining town that is now an empty ghost town

LessonPrint · D2.Geo.8.3-5 · Set 23 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Boom Towns

Set 23. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. Sacramento, California, 1849 — C (Grew as the supply town for miners near Sutter's Mill) 2. Abilene, Kansas, 1867 — B (A railhead where cowboys drove cattle north on the Chisholm Trail) 3. Beaumont, Texas, 1901 — D (Boomed after the Spindletop oil gusher) 4. Dodge City, Kansas, 1872 — A (Grew as a market where hunters sold bison hides to ship east by rail)
  2. 2.1. Butte, Montana, 1880s — B (Grew around some of the world's richest copper mines) 2. Titusville, Pennsylvania, 1859 — C (Where the first commercial oil well in the US was drilled) 3. Virginia City, Nevada, 1859 — A (Grew over the Comstock Lode, a huge find of silver) 4. Bodie, California, 1870s — D (A gold-mining town that is now an empty ghost town)

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