The Hoover Dam is located in Black Canyon, just minutes outside
of Las
Vegas, and attracts more than one million visitors per
year. Hoover Dam is an engineering masterpiece that was designed to
end the constant flooding caused by the mighty Colorado River. In
1930, construction began on the Dam, the largest of its kind at the
time. Despite the remote location and harsh working conditions, it
was completed in less than five years - two years ahead of schedule
- and well under budget. Named after America's 31st president,
Herbert Hoover, construction of the dam began in 1930.
Herbert Hoover played a pivotal role in bringing the nearby
states into agreement about water allocations, settling 25 years of
debate and argument. The dam has been called Boulder Canyon Dam as
well as Boulder Dam, but Hoover Dam was reinstated as the official
name by Congress in 1947. A National Historic Landmark, Hoover Dam
is the highest concrete dam in the Western Hemisphere, standing at
more than 725 feet above the Colorado River. With 17 generators
producing four billion kilowatts of electricity a year, it also is
one of the country's largest hydro-electric power facilities.