**This class will be taught In-Person**
California’s Gold Rush transformed an agricultural frontier based on cattle and wheat to an urban, industrial powerhouse. Individual panning for gold evolved into quartz and hydraulic mining requiring capital, financial institutions, iron and steel foundries, and factories producing mining, shipping, transportation, and building construction equipment. Between 1850 and 1860, the states’ population increased from 92,597 to 379,994. Initially sheltered by tents, adobes, crudely constructed log cabins, and wood shacks, small cottages were made possible by mechanized lumbering and the arrival of skilled artisans. Settlers joined together to build communities providing civic stability and public services – water, sanitation, fire protection.
