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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 24 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
  • Sacramento, California, 1849
  • Abilene, Kansas, 1867
  • Virginia City, Nevada, 1859
  • A.Grew over the Comstock Lode, a huge find of silver
  • B.Grew as the supply town for miners near Sutter's Mill
  • C.Grew after gold was found in the Black Hills, on Lakota land
  • D.A railhead where cowboys drove cattle north on the Chisholm Trail
2.Draw a line from each one to its match.
  • Butte, Montana, 1880s
  • Skagway, Alaska, 1897
  • Titusville, Pennsylvania, 1859
  • Beaumont, Texas, 1901
  • A.Grew around some of the world's richest copper mines
  • B.Where the first commercial oil well in the US was drilled
  • C.Boomed after the Spindletop oil gusher
  • D.The port where gold seekers started for the Klondike

LessonPrint · D2.Geo.8.3-5 · Set 24 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Boom Towns

Set 24. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. Deadwood, South Dakota, 1876 — C (Grew after gold was found in the Black Hills, on Lakota land) 2. Sacramento, California, 1849 — B (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. Virginia City, Nevada, 1859 — A (Grew over the Comstock Lode, a huge find of silver)
  2. 2.1. Butte, Montana, 1880s — A (Grew around some of the world's richest copper mines) 2. Skagway, Alaska, 1897 — D (The port where gold seekers started for the Klondike) 3. Titusville, Pennsylvania, 1859 — B (Where the first commercial oil well in the US was drilled) 4. Beaumont, Texas, 1901 — C (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.