Town Development Research

quixote100104 · Mar 20, 2009

Greetings

,

Does anyone know of any really good resources out there for researching the growth of a boom town from it's earliest settlement to a thriving town? I'm kicking around the notion of fleshing out some ideas introduced in a Wild West PBEM game I used to be in (now defunct, but I did some good writing there) into a setting to write stories in.

The town would be in Colorado, in the foothills of the Rockies, the notion being that, in relatively close proximity, you could have both cattle ranches and mines, plains and mountains. The original game was set in an interpretation of St. Elmo, CO.

Generally, I work better inside a framework so, for a recurring setting, I'd like to try and map out the growth of this hypothetical town, settled early in the Silver Boom of the 1880s. Generate a map, make up a timeline, identify the major citizens, bring in the railroad, outside buisness interests, figure out how it interacts with other communities, etc. I'd appreciate any refernces I can get to help facilitate this process.

Also, if anyone out there is interested, I'd be interested in collaborating on the project to produce a setting we could all write from. A well laid out setting of this type could generate plenty of characters and stories to go around.

Puma · Mar 20, 2009

Hi Quixote100104 - (I'm going to have to figure out how to shorten your handle). The Parasol Story in my signature at the bottom was generated from a similar type of set-up - fictitious mining boom town in Wyoming and with some pre-determined characters. You can probably find some information about the Project on line - not sure whether it would help with figuring out the expansion for you.

My other thought is a series of books Time-Life did back in probably the 70's on the old west. There were about 25 books in the set and I'm pretty sure one of them was towns (I know for sure miners was one). You might see whether any of your local libraries has the set.

Other than that, I've found a lot of information on boom towns by using Google. I'm working on a story right now set in the Montana gold fields. The problem I ran into there was that the mining and the cattle and the railroads don't quite sync for the story idea I have so I may have to make my town fictitious.

Not much help but maybe some. Puma

alleycat · Mar 23, 2009

Puma said:
My other thought is a series of books Time-Life did back in probably the 70's on the old west. There were about 25 books in the set and I'm pretty sure one of them was towns (I know for sure miners was one). You might see whether any of your local libraries has the set.

I've been wanting that set of books to have as a reference for some time. I found a complete set on eBay in like-new condition and bid on them. It'll be a couple of days before I know whether I got them or not. I'm the high bidder right now, but I probably won't bid any higher.

Puma · Mar 23, 2009

Hi Alleycat - I bought that set when they came out. They're excellent reference books. I hope you manage to get them on e-bay. Puma

alleycat · Mar 25, 2009

Puma said:
Hi Alleycat - I bought that set when they came out. They're excellent reference books. I hope you manage to get them on e-bay. Puma

I did. They were a few bucks after adding in shipping, but it still only came to about $4 a book. They are suppose to be in near perfect condition; we'll see.

Puma · Mar 25, 2009

Good for you, Alleycat. I hope you enjoy them (and feel pretty certain you will). Puma

Glen T. Brock · Mar 28, 2009

Boom Towns

Hello folks,

One important source that has not been mentioned here is County Histories. A county history will document the growth of a community from its inception until the date of publication. They are somewhat difficult to find but not impossible. First, check with the local library. Second, check with the local Historical Society. Usually these things are too expensive to buy but should be available through one of the above sources.

Larger cities will have city histories as well. In Atlanta we have Franklin Garrett's ATLANTA AND ITS ENVIRONS, published by the UGA press in three volumes. I found this to be particularly valuable when I researched WHITE CAMILLIA, about William Tecumseh Sherman's return to Atlanta in 1881 at the Cotton States Centenial. I made a good thriller out of what was a footnote in history by novelizing the visit and adding some suspense with a Klan type organisation called The Knights of the White Camillia, which tries to assasinate him. Sherman was never bothered of course. The plot was all in my imagination. But the seeds were there, right in the City History.

Hope this helps.

Glen T. Brock

Cav Guy · Apr 14, 2009

Silver boom towns are also interesting cases because of the differences between silver mining (which is often hard rock and requires presses and other industrial gear to be profitable) and gold (which at least in the early stages can be extracted with little heavy equipment and so on. Take a look at the early days of Virginia City, Nevada, and some of the Comstock Lode stuff for background.

I've done some Western RPG stuff, too, and actually have a full-fledged Montana county already laid out and populated (most of my fiction that isn't strictly historical is set there). It's a heck of a resource, and takes on its own "history" feel in a very short time.

Town Development Research

quixote100104

Puma

Retired and loving it!

alleycat

Still around

Puma

Retired and loving it!

alleycat

Still around

Puma

Retired and loving it!

Glen T. Brock

Cav Guy

Living in the backstory