Hoover Dam
AA-2026-1ADF09
On the image
Tourists have traveled to the middle of the desert to stand on a massive concrete structure, observing other massive concrete structures. They brought their family and their cars, the cars now parked neatly in rows, awaiting their turn to be driven back across this monument to human persistence.
The architecture of the intake towers, part brutalist and part simplified Art Deco, rises stoically from the dam's surface, providing excellent vantage points for people to point at things. The blue sky above and the barren mountains around them serve as a constant reminder that this entire endeavor was designed to make the improbable possible, mostly by moving a very large amount of rock and pouring an even larger amount of concrete.
This scene captures a moment when a generation, having built big things, decided the next logical step was to drive to those big things and look at them, thereby completing the cycle of human achievement and casual observation.
The historian's note
This photograph captures the Hoover Dam, a concrete arch-gravity dam located in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River, on the border between the U.S. states of Nevada and Arizona. It is an iconic structure of American engineering and a testament to the nation's capacity for large-scale public works.
Constructed between 1931 and 1936 during the Great Depression, Hoover Dam was a monumental federal project that provided extensive employment and served critical functions, including flood control, hydroelectric power generation, and irrigation water supply to the American Southwest. Its completion was a significant achievement in infrastructure development and a symbol of national progress.
The image shows the top of the dam, with several of its characteristic intake towers visible, alongside vehicles and numerous tourists. The roadway across the dam's crest was part of U.S. Route 93 until the Mike O'Callaghan – Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge (Hoover Dam Bypass) opened in 2010.
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Visually related — by likeness
Hoover Dam Visitors, Nevada-Arizona Border, 1970s. 1970–1979. Archive & Atlas, Historical Image Library, AA-2026-1ADF09. https://thearchive.archiveandatlas.com/library/hoover-dam-visitors-nevada-arizona-border-1970s.
@misc{aaAA20261ADF09,
title = {Hoover Dam Visitors, Nevada-Arizona Border, 1970s},
year = {1970–1979},
howpublished = {Archive \& Atlas, Historical Image Library},
note = {Accession AA-2026-1ADF09},
url = {https://thearchive.archiveandatlas.com/library/hoover-dam-visitors-nevada-arizona-border-1970s}
}TY - ART TI - Hoover Dam Visitors, Nevada-Arizona Border, 1970s PY - 1970–1979 PB - Archive & Atlas, Historical Image Library AN - AA-2026-1ADF09 UR - https://thearchive.archiveandatlas.com/library/hoover-dam-visitors-nevada-arizona-border-1970s ER -
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