Boulder City is a city in

Clark County, Nevada Clark County is the most populous County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Nevada with 2,265,461 residents as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The county is the location of the state's three largest cities, Las Vegas (t ...

, United States. It is approximately southeast of

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

. As of the 2020 census, the population of Boulder City was 14,885. The city took its name from Boulder Canyon. Boulder City is one of only two places in Nevada that prohibits

gambling Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of Value (economics), value ("the stakes") on a Event (probability theory), random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy (ga ...

, the other being the town of Panaca.

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 The Hoover Dam is a concrete arch-gravity dam in the Black Canyon of the Colorado, Black Canyon of the Colorado River (U.S.), Colorado River, on the border between the U.S. states of Nevada and Arizona. Constructed between 1931 and 1936, d ...

on the

Colorado River The Colorado River () is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The river, the List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem), 5th longest in the United St ...

(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 The Bureau of Reclamation, formerly the United States Reclamation Service, is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency under the U.S. Department of the Interior, which oversees water resource management, specifically as it ...

in 1930. Their ramshackle edifices were collectively known as "Ragtown". 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. 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 A company town is a place where all or most of the stores and housing in the town are owned by the same company that is also the main employer. Company towns are often planned with a suite of amenities such as stores, houses of worship, schoo ...

examples found in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, such as

Port Sunlight Port Sunlight is a model village in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. It is located between Lower Bebington and New Ferry, on the Wirral Peninsula. Port Sunlight was built by Lever Brothers to accommodate workers in ...

, or in the United States, such as

Pullman, Chicago Pullman, one of Chicago's 77 defined community areas, is a neighborhood located on the city's South Side. Twelve miles from the Chicago Loop, Pullman is situated adjacent to Lake Calumet. The area known as Pullman encompasses a much wider ...

Early years: 1930–1934

Boulder City was carefully planned through federal supervision as a model community, with Dutch-born urban architect

Saco Rienk de Boer Saco Rienk DeBoer was a Dutch landscape architect and city planner. He was born on September 7, 1883, in Ureterp, Opsterland, Friesland, Netherlands to architect Rienk Kornelius De Boer and avid gardener Antje Dictus Benedictus. He studied engin ...

contracted to plan it. DeBoer had been a

planner Planner may refer to: * A personal organizer (book) for planning * Microsoft Planner * Planner programming language * Urban planner * Route planner * Meeting and convention planner * Japanese term for video game designer See also * Plan (disambig ...

for

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

, and was to design many towns and suburbs around the

Rocky Mountain The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of Western Canada, to New Mexico in ...

region. Because the Hoover Dam project itself represented a focus for optimism for a country suffering from the effects of the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

, 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. 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". The provision of green landscape was another expression of the

's "mission to reclaim and 'green' the American West." 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. 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. On the other hand, there was no provision for schools in the burgeoning city, probably because the

expected that single male workers would populate the town. 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 to Las Vegas Hospital, and when a hospital was established in the city, females were not admitted for a number of years.

Similarity to earlier company towns

Like early model

, 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. The city was founded during the

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic b ...

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. Visitors to Boulder City were admitted by permit, and by 1932, there was a gatehouse through which all visitors had to pass.

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 Clark County may refer to: *Clark County, Arkansas *Clark County, Idaho *Clark County, Illinois *Clark County, Indiana *Clark County, Kansas *Clark County, Kentucky *Clark County, Missouri *Clark County, Nevada, containing Las Vegas *Clark County, ...

. This move to disperse to multiple centers predated the

decentralization Decentralization or decentralisation is the process by which the activities of an organization, particularly those related to planning and decision-making, are distributed or delegated away from a central, authoritative location or group and gi ...

movement of the 1970s. The nearby city of

Henderson Henderson may refer to: People *Henderson (surname), description of the surname, and a list of people with the surname * Clan Henderson, a Scottish clan Places Argentina *Henderson, Buenos Aires Australia *Henderson, Western Australia Canada *H ...

, founded in 1943 and based around the

magnesium Magnesium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Mg and atomic number 12. It is a shiny gray metal having a low density, low melting point and high chemical reactivity. Like the other alkaline earth metals (group 2 ...

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." The independent governments of Henderson,

North Las Vegas North Las Vegas is a suburban city in Clark County, Nevada, United States, in the Las Vegas Valley. As of the 2020 census it had a population of 262,527, with an estimated population of 280,543 in 2022. The city was incorporated on May 1, 1946 ...

, 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.

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). 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 Lake Mead National Recreation Area is a U.S. national recreation area in Southeastern Nevada and Northwestern Arizona. Operated by the National Park Service, Lake Mead NRA follows the Colorado River corridor from the westernmost boundary of Gran ...

and thus not within city limits. Another casino on the other end of town is the 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. On August 9, 2018, the Boulder City Bypass opened to the public as part of the

Interstate 11 Interstate 11 (I-11) is an Interstate Highway that currently runs for on a predominantly northwest–southeast alignment in the U.S. state of Nevada, running concurrently with either or both U.S. Route 93 (US 93) and US 9 ...

project. 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.

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the city has a total area of , of which , or 0.02%, is water. This ranks Boulder City as the largest city in Nevada by land area and 35th in the country, but gives it a low density rate of only about 72 people per square mile. Boulder City maintains strict controls on growth, limited to 120 single- or

multi-family residential Multifamily residential, also known as multidwelling unit (MDU), is a classification of housing where multiple separate housing units for residential inhabitants are contained within one building or several buildings within one complex. Units can ...

building permits for new construction per year. Hotels are also restricted to no more than 35 rooms. These restrictions are defined in the city code of Boulder City.

Climate

According to the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

system, Boulder City has a

hot desert climate The desert climate or arid climate (in the Köppen climate classification ''BWh'' and ''BWk'') is a dry climate sub-type in which there is a severe excess of evaporation over precipitation. The typically bald, rocky, or sandy surfaces in desert ...

(Köppen type BWh)

Demographics

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 14,966 people, 6,385 households, and 4,277 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 6,979 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 94.5%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.7%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.7% Native American, 0.7% Asian, 0.2%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 1.3% from other races, and 1.9% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 4.3% of the population. There were 6,385 households, out of which 23.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.8% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 7.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.0% were non-families. Of all households 27.6% were made up of individuals, and 13.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.30 and the average family size was 2.79. In the city, the population was spread out, with 20.4% under the age of 18, 5.3% from 18 to 24, 21.3% from 25 to 44, 29.3% from 45 to 64, and 23.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 47 years. For every 100 females, there were 97.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.0 males. The median income for a household in the city was $50,523, and the median income for a family was $60,641. Males had a median income of $42,041 versus $30,385 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the city was $29,770. About 4.7% of families and 6.7% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 9.4% of those under age 18 and 5.3% of those age 65 or over.

2020 census

As of the

of 2020, there were 14,885 people, and 6,156 households residing in the city. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was 71.5 people per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 88.9%

, 1.1%

, 0.4% Native American, 1.4% Asian, 0.0%

, and 6.8% from two or more races.

or Latino of any race were 8.4% of the population. There were 6,125 households, out of which 6.3% spoke a language other than English, and 85.8% of residents were living in the same house a year ago. The average household size was 2.37 people. In Boulder City, 18.1% of people were under 18, and 4.5% of people were under 5. 29% of people were older than 65. 50.6% of the population was female, with 49.4% being male. The median income for a household in the city was $69,746, but the

was $41,421. 11.4% of people were in poverty.

Economy

Hoover Dam in marketing

The proximity of Hoover Dam to Boulder City is reflected in many of the businesses in the historic Downtown district, which is home to the Boulder Dam Hotel, home of the Boulder City/Hoover Dam Museum. (The hotel is named after the dam's former name.) Making a pun on the word "damn" is also popular. The Boulder City Chamber of Commerce has used the slogan "Best City By A Dam Site" in promotions, and the city hosts an annual festival of short subject films dubbed "

The Dam Short Film Festival The Dam Short Film Festival is a film festival held annually in Boulder City, Nevada, typically in early February. Lee Lanier and Anita Lanier are the original co-founders of the festival. The festival is organized by the Dam Short Film Society, a ...

". Boulder City also hosts a number of Hoover Dam related events such as "That Dam Guy Stole My Dam Car" car race and "Get Off My Dam Lawn" gardening festival.

Points of interest

Alan Bible Botanical Garden The Alan Bible Visitor Center is a visitor center located at Lake Mead National Recreation Area. The visitor center features a 20-minute movie about the recreation area. There is also an array of exhibits, a gift shop, and a desert botanical gar ...

Bootleg Canyon Mountain Bike Park Bootleg Canyon Mountain Bike Park is an internationally renowned venue located in Bootleg Canyon within the northern section of Boulder City, Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to t ...

* Hoover Dam Museum *

Lake Mead Lake Mead is a reservoir formed by the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River in the Southwestern United States. It is located in the states of Nevada and Arizona, east of Las Vegas. It is the largest reservoir in the US in terms of water capacity. L ...

Nevada Southern Railroad Museum The Nevada State Railroad Museum Boulder City is a railroad museum in Boulder City, Nevada which is an agency of the Nevada Department of Tourism and Cultural Affairs. The railway is located on the Boulder City Branch Line, the historic railro ...

* Boulder City Conservation Easement

Sports

In 1975, a team from Boulder City won the '' Almost Anything Goes!'' national championship, broadcast on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

television. The following year, they won a "Supergames" playoff against the 1976 champions from

Chambersburg, Pennsylvania Chambersburg is a borough in and the county seat of Franklin County, Pennsylvania, Franklin County, in the South Central Pennsylvania, South Central region of Pennsylvania, United States. It is in the Cumberland Valley, which is part of the Gre ...

, and a celebrity all-star team. However, the show was cancelled soon after.

Parks and recreation

Boulder City has two municipal golf courses (Boulder City Municipal Golf Course and Boulder Creek Golf Course), one private golf course, a city pool, racquetball complex, lit tennis courts, athletic fields, BMX bicycle track, ample mountain hiking trails, and is only a few miles away from Lake Mead. Nevada's first airport,

Boulder City Municipal Airport Boulder City Municipal Airport is a public use airport located one nautical mile (2 km) southwest of the central business district of Boulder City, in Clark County, Nevada, United States. In operation since 1990, it is owned by the Boulder Cit ...

, is still in operation today, accommodating private planes, skydiving trips, and scenic aerial tours of Hoover Dam and the

Grand Canyon The Grand Canyon is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in Arizona, United States. The Grand Canyon is long, up to wide and attains a depth of over a mile (). The canyon and adjacent rim are contained within Grand Canyon Nati ...

Government

The city of Boulder City is a special charter municipality which operates under the council-manager form of government. The city council comprises five members, including the mayor, who acts as presiding officer for city council meetings. The city manager is appointed by the city council and executes the policies and directives of the city council. Boulder City is one of two locations within the State of Nevada where military veterans and their spouses can be interred. The Southern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery is located in Boulder City. The cemetery was established in 1990. The State of Nevada has more than 300,000 veterans and is among the fastest growing region in the Western United States of people age 65 or older with the demographic of military veterans.^{/sup> the cemetery is approximately 30 miles southeast of Las Vegas, Nevada.

Education

Boulder City's four public schools fall under the jurisdiction of the Clark County School District

The Clark County School District (CCSD) is the public school district serving Clark County in the U.S. state of Nevada. It is the largest school district in Nevada and the fifth-largest school district in the United States with 304,565 enro ...
. Boulder City High School serves grades nine through twelve and has an average enrollment of 700–750 students. It was one of fourteen Clark County schools to become a five-star school in 2012. Elton & Madeline Garrett Junior High School serves grades six through eight. Martha P. King Elementary School serves grades three through five. Andrew J. Mitchell Elementary School serves grades K through two. Boulder City is also home of one non-profit private religious elementary school, Grace Christian Academy, which offers a Christian education for grades kindergarten through five. The school is part of Grace Community Church.

Boulder City also houses a small satellite campus of the College of Southern Nevada

The College of Southern Nevada (CSN) is a public community college in Clark County, Nevada. The college has more than 2,500 teaching and non-teaching staff and is the largest public college or university in Nevada. It is part of the Nevada System ...
.

Boulder City has a public library

A public library is a library, most often a lending library, that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also Civil servic ...
, the Boulder City Library. The Boulder City Library featured in the plot of the Oscar-winning 2016 film La La Land

''La La Land'' is a 2016 American musical romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Damien Chazelle. It stars Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone as a struggling jazz pianist and an aspiring actress who meet and fall in love while pursuing ...
as the landmark across the street from the childhood home of the film's fictional heroine, aspiring actress Mia Dolan. However, La La Land's scenes of Mia's neighborhood in Boulder City (including the library) were actually filmed in Santa Clarita, CA

Santa Clarita (; Spanish for "Little St. Clare") is a city in northwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States. With a 2020 census population of 228,673, it is the third-most populous city in Los Angeles County, the 17th-most populo ...
.

Media

Stephens Media

Stephens Media LLC was a Las Vegas, Nevada, United States, diversified media investment company. It owned stakes in the California Newspapers Partnership and the ''Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette''.

The company once had an interactive Inter ...
publishes the ''Boulder City Review''. Until it ceased publication in 2009, the ''Boulder City News

The ''Boulder City News'' was a weekly newspaper distributed in Boulder City, Nevada. The paper was first published in 1937. When it ceased publication in late October 2009, the paper was published by the Greenspun Media Group. The paper was foc ...
'' was the local newspaper.

Infrastructure

The northern Eldorado Valley

Eldorado Valley, or El Dorado Valley, is a Great Basin valley in the Mojave Desert southeast of Las Vegas, Nevada, Las Vegas and southwest of Boulder City, Nevada. The valley is endorheic, containing the Eldorado Dry Lake. The Great Basin Divide, ...
contains Boulder City's "Eldorado Energy Zone" which is home to the 480 MW El Dorado natural gas power plant, as well as several other projects. In 2019, the city announced plans to lease up to in Black Hills South as a utility-scale solar facility. The city hopes to generate $1.65 million annually from the lease.

* Boulder City Hospital
* Boulder Dam Hotel
* Copper Mountain Solar Facility

The Copper Mountain Solar Facility is a 802 megawatt (MW AC) solar photovoltaic power plant in Boulder City, Nevada, United States. The plant was developed by Sempra Generation. When the first unit of the facility entered service on Decemb ...

Transportation

Highways in Boulder City are listed here.
* Interstate 11

Interstate 11 (I-11) is an Interstate Highway that currently runs for on a predominantly northwest–southeast alignment in the U.S. state of Nevada, running concurrently with either or both U.S. Route 93 (US 93) and US 9 ...

* U.S. Route 93

U.S. Route 93 (US 93) is a major north–south U.S. Numbered Highway in the western United States, that connects U.S. Route 60 (US 60) in Wickenburg, Arizona, with British Columbia Highway 93 at the Canadian border (north of ...

*
U.S. Route 93 Business (Boulder City, Nevada)
* U.S. Route 95

U.S. Route 95 (US 95) is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway System, United States Highway in the western United States. It travels through the states of Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon, and Idaho, staying inland ...

* State Route 165
* State Route 173

Notable people

* Desi Arnaz, Jr. (born 1953), actor-musician who, with his wife, Amy, owns the Boulder Theatre, a former cinema converted into a live theatre, which is home to the Boulder City Ballet Company (originally from Los Angeles

Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
).
* Deanna Brooks (born 1974 in Boulder City), May 1998 Playboy Playmate

A Playmate is a female Model (person), model featured in the centerfold/gatefold of ''Playboy'' magazine as Playmate of the Month (PMOTM). The PMOTM's pictorial includes nude photographs and a centerfold poster, along with a pictorial biograph ...

* Paul C. Fisher (1913–2006), inventor, politician and founder of the Fisher Spacepen Co., located in Boulder City (originally from Lebanon, Kansas

Lebanon is a city in Smith County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 178.
History
Lebanon was founded in 1876 at a site about distant from its present site. It was moved to the new site in about 1 ...
).
* Terry Goodkind

Terry Lee Goodkind (January 11, 1948September 17, 2020) was an American writer. He was known for the epic fantasy series ''The Sword of Truth'' as well as the contemporary suspense novel ''The Law of Nines'' (2009), which has ties to his fantasy ...
(1948–2020), writer known for the epic fantasy

High fantasy, or epic fantasy, is a subgenre of fantasy defined by the epic nature of its setting or by the epic stature of its characters, themes, or plot. Brian Stableford, ''The A to Z of Fantasy Literature'', (p. 198), Scarecrow Pres ...
series ''The Sword of Truth

''The Sword of Truth'' is a series of 21 sword and sorcery novels and six novellas written by Terry Goodkind. The books follow the protagonists Richard Cypher, Kahlan Amnell, Nicci, Cara, and Zeddicus Zu'l Zorander on their quest to defeat oppres ...
'' as well as the contemporary suspense novel '' The Law of Nines'' (2009), which has ties to his fantasy series (originally from Omaha, Nebraska

Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...
).

In popular culture

* Boulder City is featured as a playable setting in the tabletop role-playing game

A tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG or TRPG), also known as a pen-and-paper role-playing game, is a kind of role-playing game (RPG) in which the participants describe their characters' actions through speech and sometimes movements. Participants d ...
Tales from the Loop

''Tales from the Loop'' is an American science fiction drama television series developed and written by Nathaniel Halpern based on the art book of the same name by Swedish artist Simon Stålenhag. The eight-episode first season was released in ...
.
* The 1976 song “Highwayman

A highwayman was a robber who stole from travellers. This type of thief usually travelled and robbed by horse as compared to a footpad who travelled and robbed on foot; mounted highwaymen were widely considered to be socially superior to foo ...
,” written by Jimmy Webb

Jimmy Layne Webb (born August 15, 1946) is an American songwriter, composer, and singer. He achieved success at an early age, winning the Grammy Award for Song of the Year at the age of 21. During his career, he established himself as one of Am ...
, mentions the city. The second verse of the song mentions “a place called Boulder, on the wild Colorado.” The verse is sung from the perspective of a construction worker who died building the Hoover Dam

The Hoover Dam is a concrete arch-gravity dam in the Black Canyon of the Colorado, Black Canyon of the Colorado River (U.S.), Colorado River, on the border between the U.S. states of Nevada and Arizona. Constructed between 1931 and 1936, d ...
.
* A scaled-down version of Boulder City is featured in the 2010 roleplaying game '' Fallout: New Vegas''.
* Boulder City is the hometown of one of the protagonists in the 2016 musical film

Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but in some cases, they serv ...
''La La Land

''La La Land'' is a 2016 American musical romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Damien Chazelle. It stars Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone as a struggling jazz pianist and an aspiring actress who meet and fall in love while pursuing ...
''. It is the hometown of Amelia "Mia" Dolan (played by Emma Stone

Emily Jean "Emma" Stone (born November 6, 1988) is an American actress and film producer. Her accolades include two Academy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, and two Golden Globe Awards. In 2017, she was the world's highest-paid actr ...
), the female protagonist of the movie, and is where she lives before moving to Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
in pursuit of her dream of becoming a movie star

A movie star (also known as a film star or cinema star) is an actor who is famous for their starring, or leading, roles in movies. The term is used for performers who are marketable stars as they become popular household names and whose names ...
. In the film, she puts on a one-woman show titled ''So Long Boulder City'', which gets her noticed by an agent
Agent may refer to:

Espionage, investigation, and law
*, spies or intelligence officers
* Law of agency, laws involving a person authorized to act on behalf of another
** Agent of record, a person with a contractual agreement with an insuran ...
.
* Boulder City is mentioned in S1E6 of ''Milo Murthy’s Law''.
* The novel '' Lords of St. Thomas'' (GWP, 2018) by Jackson Ellis tells the story of the last family to vacate nearby St. Thomas, Nevada in 1938 following construction of the Boulder Dam #REDIRECT Hoover Dam

The Hoover Dam is a concrete arch-gravity dam in the Black Canyon of the Colorado, Black Canyon of the Colorado River (U.S.), Colorado River, on the border between the U.S. states of Nevada and Arizona. Constructed bet ...
. The book is set partly in Boulder City, and is where the Lord family patriarch, Thomas, lives and works upon taking a job with Six Companies

Six Companies, Inc. was a joint venture of construction companies that was formed to build the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River in Nevada and Arizona.

They later built Parker Dam, a portion of the Grand Coulee Dam, the Colorado River Aqueduct ...
.Robison, Vernon
New Historical Novel Tells Story Of Evacuation Of St. Thomas
'

References

External links

Official Boulder City website

Boulder City / Hoover Dam Museum

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1931 establishments in Nevada
Cities in Clark County, Nevada
Company towns in Nevada
Populated places established in 1931
Cities in Nevada}