San Francisco had been a tiny settlement before the rush began. When residents learned about the discovery, it at first became a ghost town of abandoned ships and businesses,[11] but then boomed as merchants and new people arrived. The population of San Francisco exploded from perhaps about 1,000[12] in 1848 to 25,000 full-time residents by 1850.[13] Miners lived in tents, wood shanties, or deck cabins removed from abandoned ships.[14]
To meet the demands of the arrivals, ships bearing goods from around the world came to San Francisco as well. Ships' captains found that their crews deserted to go to the gold fields. The wharves and docks of San Francisco became a forest of masts, as hundreds of ships were abandoned. Enterprising San Franciscans turned the abandoned ships into warehouses, stores, taverns, hotels, and one into a jail.[21] Many of these ships were later destroyed and used for landfill to create more buildable land in the boomtown.[21]
To accommodate the needs of the ’49ers, gold mining towns had sprung up all over the region, complete with shops, saloons, and other businesses seeking to make their own Gold Rush fortune. The overcrowded chaos of the mining camps and towns grew ever more lawless, including rampant banditry, gambling, and violence. San Francisco, for its part, developed a bustling economy and became the central metropolis of the new frontier.