Editing Boulder City, Nevada (section)

==History==
===Beginnings as federal company town===
The land upon which Boulder City was founded was a harsh, desert environment. Its sole reason for existence was the need to house workers contracted to build the [[Hoover Dam]] on the [[Colorado River]] (known commonly as Boulder Dam from 1933 to 1947, when it was officially renamed Hoover Dam by a joint resolution of Congress). Men hoping for work on the dam project had begun settling along the river in tents soon after the precise site for the dam had been chosen by the [[Bureau of Reclamation]] in 1930. Their ramshackle edifices were collectively known as "Ragtown".<ref>[https://www.pbs.org/bouldercity/citydesign.htm Boulder City City Design]. Accessed 5 April 2011</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/general-article/hoover-controversy |title=The Controversial Naming of the Dam &#124; American Experience &#124; PBS |website=www.pbs.org |access-date=22 August 2012}}</ref>
[[File:"Panorama of Boulder City, Nevada from Water Tank Hill showing construction progress to date." - NARA - 293701.tif|thumb|left|June 30, 1932]]

Boulder City was originally built in 1931 by the Bureau of Reclamation and [[Six Companies, Inc.]] as housing for workers who were building the Hoover Dam.

The sheer scale of the dam and duration of the project required the Bureau of Reclamation to consider the construction of a semi-permanent town rather than a temporary arrangement.<ref>[https://www.pbs.org/bouldercity/thedocumentary.htm Boulder City Documentary Manuscript]. Accessed 5 April 2011</ref> Boulder City was exceptionally rare as an example of a town fully planned under government supervision. This is unlike 19th century privately funded [[company town]] examples found in the [[United Kingdom]], such as [[Port Sunlight]], or in the United States, such as [[Pullman, Chicago]].

===Early years: 1930–1934===
[[File:"Boulder City, Nevada, commercial development at intersection of Nevada highway and Avenue B." - NARA - 293612.jpg|thumb|right|Boulder City, 1932]]
Boulder City was carefully planned through federal supervision as a model community, with Dutch-born urban architect [[Saco Rienk de Boer]] contracted to plan it. DeBoer had been a [[urban planner|planner]] for [[Denver]], [[Colorado]], and was to design many towns and suburbs around the [[Rocky Mountain]] region. Because the Hoover Dam project itself represented a focus for optimism for a country suffering from the effects of the [[Great Depression]], the town itself was to be an additional manifestation of this optimism. There was to be an emphasis on a clean-living environment for dam workers. The plan submitted by DeBoer in 1930 was formal and symmetrical with a park and the Bureau of Reclamation building at the termination of the two main axes.<ref>Cheryl Ferrence, ''Around Boulder City''. Arcadia Publishing, [[Charleston, South Carolina]], 2008, p 10.</ref> The plan was deemed too expensive to carry out in its original form and was modified to allow for more regular block sizes. Nevertheless, its allowance for public space and copious amounts of landscaping earned it the moniker "Nevada's Garden City".<ref>[http://homepage.mac.com/oldtownman/WW2Timeline/kaiser.html "Henry Kaiser"]{{dead link|date=January 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}. Accessed 10 April 2011.</ref> The provision of green landscape was another expression of the [[Bureau of Reclamation]]'s "mission to reclaim and 'green' the American West."<ref>[http://www.achp.gov/casearchive/casessum04NV.html "Nevada: Landscaping of the Bureau of Reclamation Regional Office, Boulder City"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170513105347/http://www.achp.gov/casearchive/casessum04NV.html |date=2017-05-13 }}. Accessed 10 April 2011.</ref>

The town was designed to house approximately 5,000 workers. The status of the workers on the Hoover Dam was reflected in their house sizes and locations. The most important employees had their residences on top of the hill nearer the apex. Managers were housed further down the hill, and dwellings for manual laborers were located furthest away from the public buildings and parks.<ref>M. Gottdiener, Claudia C. Collins, David R. Dickens, ''Las Vegas: The Social Production of an All-American City''. Blackwell, [[Malden, Massachusetts]], 1999, p. 128</ref> The most radically modified portions of DeBoer's plan were in these lower-class residential blocks, where open space and parks were largely eliminated.

Commercial development was restricted and severely regulated under [[Sims Ely]], the city manager. There were limits to the number of different types of stores allowed in the city, and all who wished to begin a business were screened for character and financial viability.<ref>Andrew J. Dunar, Dennis McBride, ''Building Hoover Dam: an Oral History of the Great Depression''. University of Nevada Press, [[Las Vegas]], Nevada, 2001, p. 119</ref> On the other hand, there was no provision for schools in the burgeoning city, probably because the [[Bureau of Reclamation]] expected that single male workers would populate the town.<ref>Dunar & McBride, p. 127</ref> The town made do with makeshift schoolrooms until the city won the right for state-funded schools to be established on the federal reservation upon which Boulder City was situated. No hospitals were provided in the city either. Injured workers had to travel {{convert|33|mi}} to Las Vegas Hospital, and when a hospital was established in the city, females were not admitted for a number of years.<ref>Dunar & McBride, p. 128</ref>

===Similarity to earlier company towns===
[[File:"Moving picture theater operated under permit at Boulder City, Nevada." - NARA - 293717.jpg|thumb|Boulder Theatre (1932), the first air-conditioned building in the city, is listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.missamys.com/bcballetco/pages/amy.html|title=Amy Arnaz - Boulder City Ballet Company executive director|access-date=September 23, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110714101828/http://www.missamys.com/bcballetco/pages/amy.html|archive-date=July 14, 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref>]]

Like early model [[company town]] [[Port Sunlight]], the workers of Boulder City were under strict monitoring: alcohol was prohibited in the town until 1969 and gambling has been prohibited since the city's outset.<ref>Gottdiener, Collins & Dickens, p. 128</ref> The city was founded during the [[Prohibition in the United States|Prohibition]] era. Boulder Theatre, established in 1931, meant that workers were not obliged to travel to Las Vegas for amusements. Such measures were common for company towns dating back to the 19th century, since sober workers surrounded by their own gardens and provided with appropriate entertainment would be more productive during their working days.

In the case of Boulder City, the prohibition of alcohol and gambling was at least partly due to the proximity of Las Vegas, which had a notoriously rowdy vice district.<ref>{{cite web |title=In Las Vegas, Prohibition Was Sporadically Enforced |url=http://prohibition.themobmuseum.org/the-history/prohibition-in-las-vegas/las-vegas-and-prohibition/ |website=Prohibition: An Interactive History |publisher=The Mob Museum |access-date=4 April 2019}}</ref> Visitors to Boulder City were admitted by permit, and by 1932, there was a gatehouse through which all visitors had to pass.<ref>Dunar & McBride, p 109</ref>

===Trendsetter for decentralization===
While the establishment of Boulder City occurred while Las Vegas was modest in size with approximately 5,000 inhabitants, it was effectively the beginning of the fragmentation of cities in the region of [[Clark County, Nevada|Clark County]]. This move to disperse to multiple centers predated the [[decentralization]] movement of the 1970s. The nearby city of [[Henderson, Nevada|Henderson]], founded in 1943 and based around the [[magnesium]] industry, was another early example of decentralization before Clark County had a significant population: "...the region began to decentralize and regroup as a multi-centered area early in its history."<ref>Gottdiener, Collins & Dickens, p. 26</ref> The independent governments of Henderson, [[North Las Vegas, Nevada|North Las Vegas]], Las Vegas, and Boulder City have perpetuated the fragmented nature of the region, giving each city its individual character, as well as generally stymieing the outward growth of these cities.<ref>Gottdiener, Collins & Dickens, p. 28</ref>

===1960s onwards===
The government did not relinquish control of Boulder City until 1959, when the town was incorporated. Boulder City's incorporation ceremony took place on January 4, 1960. The city council selected pharmacist Robert N. Broadbent as the city's first mayor.

The city charter, approved by the residents, prohibited gambling within the city limits. This provision still exists, making Boulder City one of only two locations in Nevada where gambling is illegal (the other is the town of [[Panaca, Nevada|Panaca]]).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dyestatcal.com/?pg=home-Donna-Las-Vegas-Invitational|title=DyeStatCAL.com}}</ref> The [[Hoover Dam Lodge]] hotel-casino permits gambling and has a Boulder City mailing address, but it is located on a parcel of private land within the boundaries of the [[Lake Mead National Recreation Area]] and thus not within city limits.

Another casino on the other end of town is the [[Railroad Pass Casino|Railroad Pass Hotel and Casino]], which has a Boulder City telephone prefix, but is within the boundary of the neighboring city of Henderson.

Alcohol sales were first permitted in 1969.<ref name=gateway>{{cite news| last=Shepherd| first=Natasha| title=Boulder City: A gateway to the past| url=http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2008/may/15/boulder-city-gateway-past/| access-date=8 July 2011| newspaper=Las Vegas Sun| date=15 May 2008}}</ref>

On August 9, 2018, the Boulder City Bypass opened to the public as part of the [[Interstate 11]] project.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://news3lv.com/news/local/i-11s-boulder-city-bypass-opens-with-fanfare|title=Interstate 11's Boulder City bypass opens with much fanfare|last1=Nunley|first1=Kyndell|last2=Darrow|first2= Max|date=9 August 2018|website=news3lv.com|access-date=4 April 2020}}</ref> The bypass is still within Boulder City's city limit, but bypasses the populated area. Initially, businesses and the populace were concerned that the bypass would have a negative effect on the local economy, though it seems that the opposite was true for some businesses.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://bouldercityreview.com/news/the-good-the-bad-the-interstate-results-of-bypasss-opening-not-as-dire-as-expected-54020/|title=The good. The bad. The interstate. Results of bypass's opening not as dire as expected|last=Goodyear|first=Celia Shortt|date=14 August 2019|website=Boulder City Review|access-date=4 April 2020}}</ref>