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Hoover Dam
Hoover Dam, the largest dam in the Western Hemisphere (and the largest dam in the world when it was initially constructed) is located approximately 30 miles southeast of Las Vegas on the border of Nevada and Arizona.  The dam, which was built in a mere five years after the inception of the Hoover Dam and Power Plant project in 1931, attracts more than 1,000,000 tourists annually. Many of these tourists simply take a brief sabbatical from the slot machines in Vegas to make a day trip down U.S. Highway 93 to visit the dam. Tours of the dam, however, have been offered since as early as 1937-long before Sin City garnered its infamous namesake. In fact, the Bureau of Reclamation offers several tours for visitors including a 45-minute hardhat tour that allows limited access to the power-generating portion of the plant. Visitors should be forewarned, however, that children under the age of seven are not allowed on this tour and must settle for the traditional tour which includes access to the dam's Exhibit Gallery, Overlook, and Theater Presentation. Pets are not allowed anywhere on the premises and the dam's location in a desert climate makes it unsafe to leave an animal in a vehicle for any prolonged period.
Rising over 725 feet from its base in Black Canyon on the Colorado River, the dam weighs more than 6.6 million tons.  The primary functions of the dam are to prevent flooding of the Imperial Valley and to produce hydroelectric power for parts of Arizona, California and Nevada, using 17, seven-story high generators that produce more than 4 billion kilowatts of electricity annually. Created during the height of the Depression, Hoover Dam spurred a massive migration of unemployed workers from the East who made their way to Boulder City, a town that owes its creation to the project and today holds the distinction of being the only gambling free community in all of Nevada. Nearly 100 people lost their lives to heat exhaustion, construction accidents and other mishaps while helping to build the dam, and it took more than 15 years for the dam to be officially named after the 31st president, Herbert Hoover. (Allegedly, the secretary of the Interior who arrived after Hoover left office did not care for Hoover and encouraged the use of other names such as Boulder Dam when referring to the massive structure. In 1947, after much confusion had resulted from these aliases, Congress eventually stepped in and reinstated the name Hoover Dam.) Hoover Dam's hours of operation for visitors run from 8:00 a.m. to 5:45 p.m., and tours run daily except for Christmas and Thanksgiving. The tourist season lasts all summer from Memorial Day until Labor Day. During this period, the least crowded tours take place in the morning before 10:00 a.m. Tour reservations are not required but are highly recommended since heavy traffic can cause the drive time from Vegas to stretch more than an hour, but for those travelers who enjoy both history and a breathtaking view, the Hoover Dam is well worth the drive and sure to please on both counts.
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Writer: Tom F.
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