When they first started talking about a project to dam and control the Colorado River, they thought that Boulder Canyon would be the best place for it. However, it turns out that nearby Black Canyon was an even better place. However, apparently you can't teach old dogs new tricks, so they kept calling it the Boulder Dam Project. And then because Herbert Hoover was the one who signed the papers to get the project going, congress decided to name it after him 12 years after it was completed. And as for Lake Mead, it's named after a guy who was in charge when that area was developed. Also, in no small way, the backstory to all of this involves a fair amount of politics.
And Hoover Dam brings us to Boulder City where we are staying. The city was built to house all of the workers at the dam and at one point during the construction, it was the largest city in Nevada. Yesterday, I mentioned that Boulder City was one of only two places in Nevada where gambling isn't legal. That stems to its beginnings when they thought the men doing the dangerous work on the project shouldn't be distracted by gambling and alcohol. Cars were actually checked on the way into town. Not surprisingly, just outside the city limits, there were a lot of empty bottles.
There are actually a lot interesting things to say about the engineering and construction of the dam and the development of the town to support it. Maybe later, when I have more time, I will post about them.
But for now, we have to figure out how to get everything back into our suitcases for our flight home tomorrow morning. The stuff that was in them seems to have exploded to at least twice as much. I'm not sure how that happened, but I think there is some kind of law about that just like there is Vacation Time.
Here are a few sights from today.
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| The Boulder Dam Hotel where we're staying. It was built during 1931 during the construction of the dam for bigwigs to stay in. While not really fancy, it's still pretty nice. |
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| Hoover Dam. I could never quite get the right angle to get the whole thing in the picture. |
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| Most of our tour took place in some kind of a tunnel or another. |
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| Intake towers for the power plant. |
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| Lake Mead |
I enjoyed a long lazy Labor Day weekend at the lake away from dependable internet connections so I am just catching up on all your posts. As usual the photos are beautiful, surprisingly so since you had trouble with the sun and seeing what you were shooting. Sounds/looks like a great time!
ReplyDeleteWe did have a great time. The heat, allergies, and high altitude headaches faded into the background because of the beautiful scenery and the good family time. I'm already looking forward to our next trip whenever and wherever that will be.
DeleteA long lazy Labor Day sounds pretty good to. Do you have a heated pool? When do you have to close it up for the season.
We have no pool at the lake, but the house pool is unheated. We had the pool finished with a dark indigo surface so it absorbs the sunlight and the water stays warm enough to swim through mid October. We could probably keep it open another 2 weeks, but by then the leaves are a problem so we cover it. Our back yard has only a couple of redbud trees, but our neighbors share their leaves with us every fall. The upside is that we can open it in mid April and the water will be warm enough by early to mid May.
DeleteI guess I didn't think it through. You have a lake to swim in at the lake and a pool to swim in at your house. Smart thing to paint you pool dark. I'm sure that extends your swimming season.
DeleteWhen Hubby and I went to Vegas, we wanted to see the Hoover Dam but it was our wedding and we had other things planned but would like to go back. Your pictures were amazing!
ReplyDeleteDo you actually get married in Vegas? There was a group on our flight out that was going to Vegas for a wedding. The bride had her dress in the overhead bin. I hope she had a way to press it when she got there.
DeleteWe drove by the Hoover Dam and Lake Mead but didn't take the time to explore them. I remember it looking exactly like that--fun memories!
ReplyDeleteSounds like you had a great trip. Next time you can include the dam.
DeleteI got to see Hoover Dam in a quick trip from Vegas. I helped someone moving to Vegas drive their car down. I had no money, so was kind of a hard time, but they drove me out to see Hoover Dam before I took the Greyhound back to Oregon. I was amazed at how tall it was, the enormity of the project. I still am. Lake Mead looks half empty in your photo. Yikes.
ReplyDeleteIt's pretty amazing that the Hoover Dam was built over 30 years ago, but is still the model for many modern day dams. It really is an engineering marvel.
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