Boulder City Magazine is a monthly publication full of information about Boulder City and Southern Nevada. Boulder City Magazine features the Boulder City Home Guide, a real estate guide to Boulder City and Southern Nevada.

Cover Story
by Barbara Adams, Boulder City Museum
and Historical Association

Celebrating the Beginning
Imagine a hot, dusty, shadeless place in the middle of nowhere but within hiking distance of one of the wildest rivers in the West. Then imagine having the desire to build an enormous concrete dam to tame that river. Sounds like the beginning of a good story - and indeed it was!





Seventy-five years ago (1931) the story became reality with the Boulder Canyon Project and the construction of Hoover (Boulder) Dam. It would be an engineering marvel requiring thousands of laborers who in turn would need a place to live. Thus Boulder City, the first planned city of the twentieth century, appeared on the drawing boards. Over a period of eighteen months the streets, water and power lines, residential and business districts, schools, and all those things that go along with creating a town rose up out of the desert floor. Eleven contracts were awarded to California nurseries for 9,150 trees and shrubs, plus 1,200 rose bushes. The new town was to be “an Oasis in the Desert”. This was the other side of the story of the building of Hoover Dam.


The acting federal government, not trusting the influences of the wide-open town of Las Vegas nor the Nevada legislators, created the Boulder Canyon Project Federal Reservation. State laws were void and only federal law applied. Gates blocked the way into town and only those who had jobs and lived in Boulder City were allowed to stay the night. Overlay this with the struggles of the Great Depression of the 1930s and its easy to see why living in Boulder City with your family and having a steady job at the dam construction site was a dream come true. It was a good place to be during the hard times.


Boulder City will celebrate its beginning with special events planned throughout the year. The Boulder City/ Hoover Dam Museum and the Boulder City Library will have special exhibits. Even “Frank Crowe”, the head supervisor of the construction projects, will be in town for a Chautauqua performance by Fred Krebs on March 18th. How’s that for a step back in time!
The Boulder City 75th Diamond Anniversary year is a great opportunity to review our history and discover what has made our hometown unique and special. Walk the Historic District, read the oral histories, watch the sun rise over the reservoir called Lake Mead.

Imagine the hard times without air conditioning or credit cards or e-mail.

Plan to attend the special events scheduled for this great celebration:
March 10 - Special Dam Short Film Society Films of the Era.
March 11 - Arts Council 75th Anniversary Show and Reception 50+ artists plus VIPS.
March 12 - 75th Anniversary Style Show, a Beta Sigma Phi Production.
March 18-19 - BC 75th Anniversary Pole & Barrel Races by BC Horseman’s Association.
March 18 - Chautauqua Performance “Frank Crowe” and “Sweet Adelines” at the Historic Boulder Theatre, a Boulder City/Hoover Dam Museum event.
March 19 - Community Concert at Grace Community Church.
And that’s just the beginning of our celebrations...

For more information contact the Boulder City/Hoover Dam Museum at (702) 294-1988 or www.bcmha.org, the Boulder City Chamber of Commerce at (702) 293-2034 or www.bouldercitychamber.com, or the Boulder City Arts Council at (702) 293-2138 or www.bouldercityartscouncil.org. We welcome any ideas, projects or events to add to our celebration year.




Boulder City Magazine®
688 Wells Rd #A
Boulder City, Nevada 89005
Phone (702) 294-1392 Fax (702) 294-1392
E-mail: BoulderCityMagazine@gmail.com



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