Hoover Dam is located in the Black Canyon of the famous Colorado River, about 30 miles southeast of Las Vegas

Why talk about Hoover Dam in the “Vegas Legends” category? Because Hoover Dam plays a very important part in the city’s history, and is a famous landmark for turists.  

The dam is named after Herbert Hoover, who, as Secretary of Commerce, played an instrumental role in the building of Hoover Dam. Hoover Dam was originally named Boulder Dam. That’s because the initial site was at Boulder Canyon. An engineering reassessment moved the location from Boulder Canyon to its present location, Black Canyon. The Herbert Hoover administration changed the name from Boulder Dam to Hoover Dam in 1930 as a political move. In 1933, the Franklin Roosevelt administration changed it back to Boulder Dam, and under Harry Truman, the permanent name of Hoover Dam was restored.  

The Great Depression led to massive migration of the unemployed to Las Vegas in hopes of landing jobs building Hoover Dam. Men came from around the country, many bringing families and life’s possessions hoping for employment.

Hoover Dam provides generation of low-cost hydroelectric power for use in Nevada, Arizona, and California. Hoover Dam alone generates more than 4 billion kilowatt-hours a year - enough to serve 1.3 million people. From 1939 to 1949, Hoover Powerplant was the world’s largest hydroelectric installation; today, it is still one of the country’s largest. (from http://www.usbr.gov/lc/hooverdam/faqs/powerfaq.html)

An interesting (spooky) fact: there were 112 deaths associated with the construction of the dam, and the first person to die in the construction was J. G. Tierney, a surveyor who drowned while looking for an ideal spot for the dam. His son, Patrick W. Tierney, was the last man to die working on the dam, on the same day, exactly 13 years later.

Without the dam and its water supply, Las Vegas metropolitan area would never have seen its population grow to nearly two million by the year 2000.  The United States government’s construction of Hoover Dam was one of the most important developments in Las Vegas history, dramatically affecting its population to the present.

 (http://www.onlinenevada.org/hoover_dam_s_impact_on_las_vegas)

http://www.arizona-leisure.com/hoover-dam-building.html

http://www.destination360.com/north-america/us/nevada/hoover-dam.php