The name "Boulder" comes from the name of the project that built the dam, the Boulder Canyon Project Act, even though Hoover Dam was actually built in Black Canyon. Boulder Canyon was recommended in the early 1920s but changed in 1928. Photo by Arnold M. Knightly.

By F. Andrew Taylor, The View

Most folks figured out a long time ago that Boulder Highway is so named because it’s the road to Boulder City. What is less obvious is how Boulder City got its name.

Dennis McBride, an expert on Boulder City history and curator of history and collections at the Nevada State Museum, wrote an extensive article on the name changes of Hoover Dam and Boulder City titled “How Hoover Dam Got Its Dam Name.” It can be viewed on the Boulder City/Hoover Dam website, >bcmha.org

When the great dam that created Lake Mead was being planned in the 1920s, there was no Boulder City, no Boulder Highway and little reason to be in that area. A meandering road led vaguely southeast through the valley for drivers who needed to get to the Eldorado Valley and Searchlight.

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