The Rise of Global Markets in Gold Rush San Francisco

Summary

When the discovery of gold in California was announced to the world, San Francisco almost instantly became the focal point of global activity. A steady flow of ships sailed to the fledgling city, carrying immigrants from ports as far-flung as Hong Kong, Valparaiso, London, and virtually every major entrepot on the eastern seaboard of the United States. Flooding into the city with these new arrivals was a vast assortment of commercial goods. Raw materials such as hardware and building supplies, food and beverages, clothing and domestic items were all unloaded onto San Francisco’s newly-constructed wharves and distributed from her warehouses. The archaeological record buried alongside the waterfront of old San Francisco attests to the economic contributions of numerous countries. The author selects several artifacts discovered in San Francisco to illustrate the ways in which global society was transformed as a result of the Gold Rush.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2015   •
• San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Cove: Everyday Life along the 19th-century Bay Shore

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Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 586