The
place where Boulder City stands today was nothing
but barren desert in 1928, when Congress authorized
the construction of a dam on the Colorado River in
Black Canyon between Nevada and Arizona. It would be
a monumental task - a dam to dwarf all others, built
during a period of national uncertainty created by
the Great Depression. Black Canyon lacked existing
facilities to accommodate workers. Las Vegas, the
nearest city, was 33 miles away. A simple
construction camp would be insufficient for the size
of the workforce and the duration of the project.
The government decided to build an entire city.
Bureau of Reclamation engineer Walker Young selected
the site for the new town, to be called Boulder
City. Frank Crowe, a veteran engineer of six other
dams, came on as construction supervisor for Six
Companies, Incorporated, the government's
contractor. Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner
Elwood Mead withdrew lands from public access for
the project. Both the Federal Government and the
state of Nevada wanted jurisdiction. The government
had particular reasons for its interest in
controlling the new city.
In August 1930, Government Survey Camp Number One
was established near the proposed town site to house
the engineers and surveyors during their preliminary
work. As word spread about the project, thousands of
jobless Americans moved into Las Vegas. With no
guarantee of food, shelter or work, they carried
with them only the dream of earning a living.
Squatter's camps began to appear around the future
location of Boulder City. Government Survey Camp
Number One became known as McKeeversville, named for
the government cook who lived there with his family.
Another camp grew down by the river where the heat
was most intense.
The Bureau of Reclamation turned to award winning
architect Saco DeBoer to design the city plan.
But the stock market crash of 1929 radically
affected DeBoer's plans. The government no longer
had the money to implement his vision. DeBoer's
design was scaled back.
Even before they had a city to live in, the future
residents of Boulder City began work on the Dam. The
men spent their days laboring in the withering heat
of the canyon, blasting away rock to divert the
river water. Although the work was exhausting, the
men, particularly those from Ragtown, knew that an
even more trying ordeal awaited them when their
shifts ended. They had to go home.
Survival was difficult. With the nearest adequate
medical facility over thirty miles away, disease and
the severity of the desert took many lives. On one
scorching July day, four women succumbed to heat
stroke. Some of the men fell victim to the
conditions as well. Their positions were quickly
filled by enthusiastic replacements. Despite the
hardships, the spirit of fairness and camaraderie in
the camps was illustrated in the operation of
riverman Murl Emery's store.
Conditions slowly began to improve. In February
1931, the Boulder City train station opened and
began supplying materials to the builders. By late
summer construction on the new city began in
earnest. A combination of independent contractors
and State of Nevada crews paved a road to Las Vegas,
while the grading of roads within the town was a
burden shared by man and beast.
Boulder City was built in a triangular shape. At the
peak was the Bureau of Reclamation Administration
Building. Just below were the permanent government
houses. Below the business district was the
temporary housing for Six Companies workers, homes
that would be torn down after the Dam was built.
They were called dingbat houses because of the quick
and shoddy way they were constructed.
The dingbat houses were a great improvement over the
squatters' camps, but the ragged construction style
created hazards of its own. Dust blew in through the
cracks in the walls and doorways, piling up against
the houses, creating small dunes throughout the
neighborhood.
In just over a year, Boulder City rose from the dust
into a fully functioning construction town of 5,000.
Before the government's plan could reach full
efficiency, however, outside forces infiltrated and
disrupted the burgeoning operation. In August of
1931, workers angry at a Six Companies wage cut for
some canyon laborers and incited by the radical
labor organizers known as Wobblies went on strike.
They demanded improved working conditions. The
response from Six Companies was quick and decisive.
It shut down construction and the camp. Non-striking
workers were taken to Las Vegas. The strikers
occupied dormitories and waited for government
intervention that would support their position. It
never came. The Government sided with its
contractor, Six Companies, and moved the Wobblies
and their supporters out of Boulder City. A gated
fence and checkpoint station were built at Railroad
Pass to prevent another influx of labor organizers,
but also to control access of those trying to enter
the Federal Reservation.
Racial discrimination had also contributed to the
exclusivity of Boulder City. Even at the outset of
Dam construction work was restricted to white
Americans. Eventually a few minorities were hired,
but whites still widely outnumbered them.
Inside the gate, the population of Boulder City went
about the business of fulfilling its singular
purpose - building Hoover Dam. The operation became
routine. Every day workers ate their meals at the
Anderson Brothers Mess Hall. Transport trucks
arrived, unloaded exhausted men, and then returned
to the Dam with a fresh cargo of workers. Meanwhile,
small businesses thrived under managed competition.
Off-hours workers went to the pool hall for
relaxation. It all seemed very natural. Yet behind
this sense of normalcy, one man, who was hand picked
by the government to pull all the strings,
manipulated life in Boulder City. In October 1931,
Sims Ely was hired as the city administrator. Ely
was given carte blanche power to run the city as he
saw fit. Ely made sure the government's rules and
regulations were enforced.
With Ely firmly in charge Boulder City may have been
the safest place in the country. Anyone found guilty
of a crime could lose his job, and that meant the
loss of his home and his right to stay in town.
Banishment was a chilling prospect.
Most Boulder City residents lived in concert with
the community's standards. They spent their time
simply - working and raising families. In hindsight
the existence of women and children in Boulder City
may seem quite normal, but it came as a surprise to
the Government. The Bureau anticipated the standard
construction town population of single men. The
Depression, however, created a workforce of family
men as well. Their children needed an education,
something for which Boulder City was not prepared.
Within a short time, a sense of community developed
among the residents of Boulder City. Unlike more
traditional construction towns, Boulder City offered
families a sense of stability. Social and spiritual
organizations strengthened their ties to the area.
Meanwhile, inside the gate, those not interested in
gambling, liquor or highway dance halls had plenty
to do. Baseball was a very popular sport among the
men in Boulder City. Occasionally they would include
some of their four legged friends. One could always
find action in the pool hall as well. When not
playing a game many enjoyed playing a tune.
One very popular business was the only movie theatre
in town. For the overheated men coming back from the
long workday it was a most welcome sight, but not
because they loved movies.
At the height of the Dam construction period,
Boulder City had the largest population in the state
of Nevada, approximately seven thousand people. In
the fall of 1935, after four years of unrelenting
effort, the Dam was nearly complete. To celebrate
the occasion, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt
traveled to the Dam for a dedication. Boulder City
eagerly awaited his arrival. The two-lane, winding
road to the Dam was packed solid with cars.
Thousands of people lined the crest of the Dam to
hear Roosevelt speak.
But the completion of the Dam raised new questions
about the future of Boulder City. The original plans
envisioned a small operations and maintenance crew
remaining in town. The Six Company houses, though,
were to be torn down before the company moved on to
its next project. No one considered the possibility
that some of the residents would actually want to
make Boulder City their permanent home.
Six Companies decided to stop tearing down and
instead sold its houses. It handed the completed Dam
over to Uncle Sam and left the area while the
federal government remained in control of the
reservation. With that control came the continued
responsibility for public services and
administration.
Like children living under a parent's roof,
residents grew comfortable with the quality of life
afforded them by the government. This relationship
continued for more than a decade after the
completion of Hoover Dam, but eventually the
"parent" grew weary of it.
The failed bill marked the first battle in a decade
long conflict over incorporation. A report issued in
June 1950 suggested a gradual release of control
over the course of several years. There were many
questions to be answered.
The committee's resistance prolonged the
government's reluctant presence and extended the
debate about Boulder City's future. Finally, by
1958, the government was determined to cut its ties
to Boulder City once and for all. The Boulder City
bill was passed and the businessmen would have their
way, with a few exceptions.
On September second President Dwight Eisenhower
signed the Boulder City Bill into law. Formal
incorporation ceremonies in January 1960 made it
official, and Boulder City was free to face its
future.
Today, Boulder City is flush with reminders of the
way things were in its earliest days. McKeeversville,
the first squatters camp, remains, but under its new
name - Lakeview. Government houses as well as their
Six Companies counterparts still line the streets.
The Boulder City Theatre still stands, but is no
longer the most popular building in town. A few
miles to the west, outside of where the gate once
stood guard, is a casino. Decades later, Boulder
City maintains a position as one of Nevada's unique
places. There has been a grudging acceptance of
change over the years. Since 1969, liquor has been
legal in town, but opposition to gambling and
prostitution remains and growth ordinances keep
Boulder City from duplicating the sprawl of Las
Vegas. Long time residents here are protective of
the lifestyles that separate their town from all
others in Nevada. They remember and respect a time
when Boulder City was seen not simply as a gateway,
but as a backbone, a vital support for a monumental
effort of ambition, industry and hope.