Hoover Dam

Hoover Dam, dam on the border of the states of Nevada and Arizona, United States, situated in Black Canyon on the Colorado River, near Las Vegas, Nevada. A major engineering achievement, the massive dam is 221 m (726 ft) high and 379 m (1,244 ft) long at the crest. The reservoir formed behind the dam, Lake Mead, is one of the largest artificially created bodies of water in the world; it covers an area of about 694 sq km (247 sq mi), and its shoreline measures 885 km (550 mi). The hydroelectric generators of Hoover Dam, which are capable of supplying nearly 1.5 million kilowatts of hydro-power, provide electricity to Arizona, Nevada, and southern California.

Construction of the dam began in 1931 as part of the Boulder Canyon project and was completed in 1936. Originally named after President Herbert Hoover, the dam was later called Boulder Dam, but in 1947 its initial name was restored.