Hoover Dam

A surprisingly short distance from Boulder City is the grand Hoover Dam. Boulder City, of course, was formed to house the workers who built the dam. But I discovered something interesting while visiting: Hoover Dam is actually located in Black Canyon, not Boulder Canyon as originally conceived, because Boulder Canyon has a fault and did not have the requisite space to build a railroad line for construction. So Black Canyon was selected, although the project continued to be called the "Boulder Dam" construction.

I also kept wondering if it was Hoover Dam or Boulder Dam, because you see it referred to both ways in the area. Officially, it is Hoover Dam. Herbert Hoover was president when the dam was constructed, but he and Franklin Roosevelt didn't get along, so FDR ordered it referred to as Boulder Dam. But Harry Truman, in the 1950s, officially restored the Hoover name, since he and Herbert were friends, and former Presidnet Hoover had done a lot of work to support President Truman (such as the Hoover Commission). The official plaque is shown below in the photos.

Arriving at the dam, I was instantly amazed by the jungle created by the electric grid. Plus, I'm not sure I've ever seen electrical towers built as such an odd angle (but apparently it helps stabilize them on the canyon sides). There has clearly been a lot of construction at Hoover Dam, and much is ongoing. I had forgotten about the new bridge that allows cars to get to Arizona without having to cross the dam. It's almost as amazing as the dam itself (and is REALLY high in the air).
Most noticeable among the new construction is the giant new car park, with adjoining food court and gift shop (and bathrooms!). There were a lot of cars when we were there on an early Sunday afternoon, but there were still plenty of parking spaces available. Leaving the parking lot, one comes down to the old road that crosses the damn, with nice views of the old visitors center and the giant intake towers, as well as the new visitors center (open and in use, but still with construction going on).

 

 
Walking toward the dam, you will pass these amazing 30-foot sculptures, called the Winged Figures of the Republic. Created by Norwegian-born immigrant sculptor Oskar J.W. Hansen, he is quoted as explaining, “In each of these monuments can be read the characteristics of these men [who built Hoover Dam], and on a larger scale, the community of which they are part. Thus, mankind itself is the subject of the sculptures at Hoover Dam.”
 

According to Newseek (6/29/24), the water levels in Lake Meade have recovered a bit, but are still disturbingly low: "The Arizona-Nevada reservoir provides water for 25 million people living across the region, but drought conditions in recent years have drastically depleted its resource. As of JUne 20, 2024, the lake's water level stood at 1,063.94 feet above mean sea level (MSL). This is down from 1,067.05 feet recorded a month earlier, and 165.06 feet below the reservoir's full pool level of 1,229 feet."

After our long exploration of the top of Hoover Dam, we decided we were ready to go down, down, down, into the depths of the dam to see how it works. The tour ($30) starts with a 530-foot drop down the elevator, to a tunnel (nice and cool) that originally drilled in the 1930s so you can see the gigantic intake pipes. Then a second elevator ride takes you up a bit to see the inner workings of the dam, the huge generators. The Hoover Dam's hydroelectric power plant has 17 generators, including nine on the Arizona wing and eight on the Nevada wing.

 

 

 
In all honesty, what I really like to remember the most are the small details. The above picture (left) is the tile floor overlooking the generators. Notice it is a stylized electrical outlet. The above picture (right) is the over-the-top Art Deco sign for the men's original bathroom on the top of the dam. Such interesting quirks! (But I did quickly tire of all the dam jokes from the dam tour guides about the dam elevators, dam tunnels, dam tourists, etc.)

Finally, we had enough heat and touring, and (after a little souvenir shopping), we returned to Boulder City for an hour relaxing in the cool pool, followed by another visit to Dillinger's, and then a takeout pizza from Tony's Pizza, plus another brew at Jack's Place while waiting for the pizza (I think I have these names right, as they show up on the google map where I remember us being).

After a good night's sleep, we got up on Monday morning in time to checkout, relax with Tom's coffee at the Southwest Diner, and then head back to Las Vegas. We had reserved one more night at the California Hotel, so it would be fairly easy (we hoped) to get to the airport on Tuesday, where we had a 2:00 pm flight.
On with the Show