"Boulder City," presents the story of the town known to many as the gateway to Hoover Dam. Local historians and early residents describe the creation and transformation of a community designed and controlled by the Bureau of Reclamation as a temporary city, one which survived a planned destruction and a tumultuous breakup with the government.
Rising more than 700 feet above the raging waters of the Colorado River, Hoover Dam is called one of the greatest engineering works in history. Built during the Great Depression, the construction drew men desperate for work to a remote and rugged canyon near Las Vegas. There they lived in tent cities, struggled against heat, choked on the dust and climbed perilous heights to create a colossus of concrete that brought electricity and water to millions and transformed the American Southwest!
The documentary traces the development of the city from its earliest time as a survey camp through its struggle for incorporation in the 1950s. The program captures the struggles the residents went through to battle the heat, dust, and hardships of living in a desert environment. Yet despite these hardships, the men, women, and children of Boulder City created a community that flourished.
"Boulder City", originally aired on KNPB-TV's documentary series "Nevada Experience" as a local companion to the PBS program, "Hoover Dam" from The American Experience.
