Hoover Dam for tourists

One of the things that I noticed when I was at Hoover Dam is how everything is designed around tourism.  I am sure large portions of that has developed over the years.  But this project was such a controversial and political project, that I can't help but wonder if the original designs didn't include the ability to "show off the success" of the project.


Decorative retaining wall

This retaining wall caught my eye immediately.  It looked like a piece of art as you walked by it.  The separating lines were not like the traditional tuck pointing.  They protruded out from the wall instead. Almost like saying, "Any boarders between us are what you have made."


Tile work in the floor

The floor of the mezzanine which allows the tourists to view the turbines was designed with special Southwest, Native American Motifs. They were beautiful and detailed work that although pointed out by the tour guide, many people hardly glanced at them.


Tile work in the floor

Sometimes reality is so strange that if you tried to write the story, you couldn't write it that well.  There were 112 deaths associated with the construction of the dam.  The first was J. G. Tierney, a surveyor who drowned on December 20, 1922, while looking for an ideal spot for the dam. His son, Patrick W. Tierney, was the last man to die working on the dam, 13 years to the day later.


Memorial to those that lost their lives

Many visitors rub the feet of the angel statues placed as a memorial to all those that died in the construction of the project. (Good luck?  I've noticed as I travel, that people like to touch statues like that.)  The platform commemorates the many states that are connected because of the project and in the center of the flying tall is the flag of the United States of America.  After all, this was a united project at a time when the country was in deep despair.  


Memorial to those that lost their lives

We were only three of the many hundreds of thousands of tourists to visit the Hoover Dam on an annual basis.  It is an amazing site to see that this is a creation of men that is as strong and sturdy as the mountains that surrounds it.



Hoover Dam Tourists