Spurred by thepromise of gold, hungry adventurers flocked to San Francisco in search ofopportunity on the eve of the Civil War. The city flourished and became amagnet for theater. Some of the first buildings constructed in San Franciscowere theater houses, and John Wilkes Booth's famous acting family often gracedthe city's stages. In just two years, San Francisco's population skyrocketedfrom eight hundred to thirty thousand, making it an "e;instant city"e; wheretensions between transplanted Northerners and Southerners built as warthreatened the nation. Though seemingly isolated, San Franciscans took theirpart in the conflict. Some extended the Underground Railroad to their city,while others joined the Confederate-aiding Knights of the Golden Circle. Including a directory of local historic sites and streets, author MonikaTrobits chronicles the dramatic and volatile antebellum and Civil War historyof the City by the Bay.