Known Name(s)
Boulder Dam Hotel
Address
Boulder City, NV
Establishment Type(s)
Hotel
Physical Status
Extant
Description
This two-story Colonial Revival hotel was constructed in three stages beginning in 1932. It was originally U-shaped but was H-shaped by 1935. The foundation is cast concrete and exterior walls are concrete block. The north/front elevation has a two-story porch with squared columns. The pedimented main entry is flanked by pilasters and quoins. Windows on all elevations are multi-pane sliding sash. The original building was three bays wide and located at the western end of the building. In 1934, a dining room and additional rooms were added to the northeast corner, and the entrance was moved one bay to the east to retain symmetry. In 1935, another addition of the same size was added to the southwest corner, creating the H-shaped form. The building was renovated in the 1980s.
Source: National Register of Historic Places nomination.
Current address is 1305 Arizona Street.
Detailed History
From the National Register nomination, written by Ana Beth Koval and Charles D. Zeier, 6/17/1980:
The construction of Hoover Dam was the largest undertaking the U.S. Government had undertaken since the Panama Canal. As a result, it became an instant tourist attractions drawing hundreds of prominent visitors and government bureaucrats. Unfortunately, there was no place for these people to stay that was befitting their station in life. Recognizing this, a frequent visitor to the area, W.F. Grey, proposed to build a hotel in Boulder City. He applied for and was granted a building permit by the Bureau of Reclamation on April 1, 1932. P.S. Webb began construction of the Boulder City Hotel in 1932 and completed it in 1933. The hotel's grand opening was in December of that year.
In 1935, with the dam nearing completion, P.S. Webb (the builder of the hotel) recognized the tourist potential of the dam and the newly created Lake Mead. He
founded Grand Canyon-Boulder Dam, Inc. a multi-facetted tourist agency based in Boulder City. One of WebVs first actions was to purchase the Boulder Dam Hotel. Heavy advertizing by this tourist agency brought ever increasing numbers of people to the Boulder Dam Hotel. The hotel was a popular, elegant and prestigious resort up and into the 1940s. The onset of World War II however, changed this pleasant and economically prosperous picture. With the Japanese bombing of Peal Harbor in December of 1941, security at Hoover Dam and other strategic facilities along the west coast was greatly increased. Tours were forbidden and civilian traffic over the dam was closely monitored. These restrictions,gas rationing, and the general tone of the times greatly reduced the tourist trade. The hotel business in Boulder City plummeted.The Grand Canyon-Boulder Dam Tourist Company began selling off its concessions. One victim was the Boulder City Hotel. Since then the hotel has gone through a series of owners and uses. The hotel was fully renovated in the 1980s.
Famous guests include Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes, Ohio Senator Robert Taft, the Maharajah of Indore, the Duchess of Westminster, Crown Prince Olav and Princess Martha of Norway, Boris Karloff, Shirley Temple, Pope Pius XII, and more.
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