{}The History of the Hoover Dam

The Hoover Dam has been in operation for 83 years, and its legacy fits with a landmark built during the Great Depression, but its construction came at a high price. The Hoover Dam was originally named after its namesake, the Hoover River, and was built on the banks of the Mississippi in Hoover, California, just outside Los Angeles. It has since been built and is now one of the most famous attractions in the United States with its iconic red, white and blue colors and iconic waterfalls. Sources: 7

The dam was built to divert water from the Colorado River for hydropower and control flooding. The Hoover Dam, originally called the Boulder Dam, is the largest dam in the United States and the second largest in California. Located on the banks of the Mississippi in Hoover, California, just outside Los Angeles, it was created during the Great Depression as part of a $1.5 billion project by the US Army Corps of Engineers. Sources: 3, 7

When it was completed in 1936, Hoover Dam was the largest concrete structure ever built. It was to become a model for thousands of dams built around the world, and it is the second largest dam in the United States and the third largest in California. Sources: 1, 3

This incredible engineering skill has played a critical role in providing flood management, hydropower, and ensuring a reliable source of water for millions of people. Sources: 1

The project was seen as a way for the US government to create much-needed jobs in the Southwest, which experienced a population boom before the stock market crash. Six Companies Inc. to build Boulder City, Nevada as proposed, while Las Vegas grew considerably. Once the dam was approved and could be built, thousands of workers came to southern Nevada to work on it. The workers had to be housed in a large high-rise building, the Hoover Dam Building, at the top of the hill. Sources: 1, 2

Hoover Dam is a massive concrete structure erected on the Arizona-Nevada border. Before the dam was built, the wild Colorado River had to be diverted from the construction site in the Black Canyon. Four blasted tunnels were dug into the canyon wall, and construction began on both sides of the Arizona-Nevada border in 1931. Sources: 2, 8

The dam is known to be one of the most powerful dams in the United States and offers some of the most spectacular landscapes in the Southwest. The main purpose of the dam is to control the Colorado River, but it is also known as the largest hydroelectric dam in North America and the second largest dam on the Colorado. Sources: 8

One was built to control the flooding of the Colorado River, which meandered through the deserts of Arizona, California, New Mexico and Nevada. It bypasses the evaporation of Lake Mead, the largest reservoir in the USA and the second largest lake in North America. Sources: 8, 9

The first person to die in the construction of the Hoover Dam was a surveyor who drowned in search of an ideal location for the dam. His son, Patrick W. Tierney, became the last bedridden person to die while working on a dam (see Deaths at Hoover Dam). We are told that dam builders fell into the wet concrete during construction and died of their injuries. Sources: 4

On September 30, 1935, President Franklin Roosevelt dedicated the Hoover Dam (originally called Boulder Dam) to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the United States Geological Survey (USGS). Sources: 6

Surrounded by a crowd of 10,000 people, the massive concrete dam, which stretches 1,244 feet above the Black Canyon, sits on the Arizona-Nevada border and stretches for 2.8 miles across the Colorado River. The dam - which took five years to build - is the first of its kind in the United States to control and manage water from the Colorado River, while providing water and hydropower to surrounding areas in the southwestern United States. The construction of Hoover Dam has led to Lake Mead forcing some communities in the area to evacuate. Sources: 0, 6

This is a fantastic package that contains everything you need to know about Hoover Dam, in 25 pages in depth. There are a number of ready-to-use Hoover Dam worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about the history of the dam and its construction, as well as the fact that it was originally known as the Boulder Dam, located in Boulder, Colorado, just a few miles north of Boulder City. This is the first part of a two-part series about the construction and operation of the HooverDam, also known by its original name Boulder Dam. Sources: 0, 4

The dam in Boulder, Colorado, just a few miles north of Boulder City, was named in honor of Herbert Hoover, who played a pivotal role in the construction and operation of the Colorado River dam, about 30 miles south of Las Vegas. Sources: 4

The construction of the dam took almost 30 years, although it would only take five years. Construction began in 1931 and was completed in 1936, two years ahead of schedule. 

Cited Sources

• https://kidskonnect.com/geography/hoover-dam/ 0
• http://www.theb1m.com/video/building-the-hoover-dam 1
• https://www.familyholiday.net/construction-history-of-hoover-dam-the-greatest-dam-in-the-world/ 2
• https://livingnewdeal.org/projects/hoover-dam-colorado-river-az/ 3
• https://www.cs.mcgill.ca/~rwest/wikispeedia/wpcd/wp/h/Hoover_Dam.htm 4
• https://rarehistoricalphotos.com/building-hoover-dam/ 5
• https://theculturetrip.com/north-america/usa/articles/a-brief-history-of-the-hoover-dam/ 6
• https://www.history101.com/july-7-1930-construction-begins-hoover-dam/ 7
• https://graylinelasvegas.com/blog/8-powerful-facts-you-didnt-know-about-hoover-dam/ 8
• https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Hoover_Dam 9