Boulder Dam/Hoover Dam Dedicated by President Roosevelt Sept. 30, 1935
Hoover Dam, once known as Boulder Dam, is a concrete arch-gravity dam in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River, on the border between Arizona and Nevada. It was constructed between 1931 and 1936 during the Great Depression and was dedicated on September 30, 1935, by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Its construction was the result of a massive effort involving thousands of workers, and cost over one hundred lives. The cost of the construction was $49 million dollars and was completed two years ahead of schedule. The dam was controversially named after President Herbert Hoover.
Lonnie Hammargren long time Las Vegas resident, neurosurgeon, politician and eclectic collector of Las Vegas and Nevada history opens his house, Castillo del Sol to Las Vegas residents to celebrate Nevada Day. Lonnie severed as Lt. Governor of Nevada (1995-1999), and spent years as a NASA flight surgeon. His house or should I say his 3 houses combined to form one large museum with has at least 3 stories and a basement sprawl over then neighborhood near Flamingo and Sandhill.
Some of the items noted are a life-size Apollo capsule, atomic bombs, observatory, planetarium, casino signs, time machines, Liberace memorabilia (including a full set of stairs), a sarcophagus in a Egyptian tomb, stage, trains, political history, replica of Hoover Dam, large scaled size model of the Space Shuttle, memorials to fallen astronauts, Bat-mobile, Statue of Liberty, and of the latests items was the roller-coster from the the top of the Stratosphere. Lonnie’s house has been featured on Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous and the Travel Channel’s Vegas VIP Homes.
This was the final year (2014) for the public to tour of Mr. Hammargren’s house on Nevada Day weekend.
The Showboat Sign now located in Lonnie Hammargren’s Back Yard
Lonnie Hammargren
Photos by: LasVegas360.com
Date Taken: November 2, 2014
On this date, January 16, 1942, a Douglas DC-3 Propliner left Las Vegas and crashed in to nearby Potosi Mountain.
TWA Flight 3 Crashed in to Mount Potosi on January 16, 1942 near Las Vegas
After taking off from now named Nellis Air Force base, TWA Flight 3 flew for 15 minutes and slammed into a sheer cliff on Potosi Mountain, 32 miles southwest of the airport, at an elevation of 7,770 ft. and was destroyed.
All nineteen passengers on board, including movie star Carole Lombard, who was married to husband Clark Gable, her mother, and all three crew members, died in the crash.
Potosi Mountain can be seen from the Las Vegas valley and has a elevation of 8,517 ft.
GPS: 35° 57′ 3.71″ N, 115° 29′ 25″ W
Photo by: Wikipedia
Hoover Dam on the Nevada – Arizona Border Built Starting in 1931
On July 3, 1930, President Herbert Hoover signed the appropriation bill for the Boulder Dam. Work started on the dam in 1931 and Las Vegas’ population swelled from around 5,000 citizens to 25,000, with most of the newcomers looking for a job building the dam. The casinos and showgirl theaters first appeared in Las Vegas to entertain the largely male-majority dam construction workers. The name of the dam was later changed from Boulder Dam to Hoover Dam.
Photo By: LasVegas360.com
Date Taken: November 26, 2011
In the 60s, racing circuits popped up all over the United States to fill the high demand for racing entertainment. Before long, more tracks could be built than sustained by the industry many closed the gates and fell into neglect, later being developed into shopping centers and housing developments.
Stardust International Raceway
The Stardust International Raceway was opened in 1965 in the Spring Valley of Las Vegas, Nevada. The facility included a 3-mile, 13-turn road course and a quarter-mile drag strip. Owned by the Stardust Hotel and Casino, the track was built to attract high rollers to the hotel. When the hotel was sold in 1969, the track was abandoned with drag racing events finally ceasing in 1970. Later, the land was bought by Pardee Homes and the Spring Valley community was built in the track’s place. The area is now know as Spring Valley and with the old track boarding Tropicana Avenue, Rainbow Blvd and Flamingo Road.
1970’s Topo map of Spring Valley showing parts of the Racetrack
Stardust hosted Can-Am races from 1966 through 1968 with John Surtees winning the first two and Denny Hulme taking the last. A Trans-Am race was held in 1967, won by Mark Donohue.
On July 21, 1948 a Boeing B-29 Superfortress (F-13) crashed in to Lake Mead. The Bomber was modified from a B-29 into a F-13. The "F" meant that it was modified for photo reconnaissance. It was on a special mission to conduct atmospheric research using an instrument called the "Sun Tracker". Painted on the nose of the plane was the words "Cosmic Ray Research". The plane operated as high as 30,000 feet down to just about as low as you can fly.
While on mission, the plane was making a very low pass over the Lake Mead surface with what is described, "glass like" when it hit the water. The plane was traveling at about 250 mph as it crashed and skipping across the surface for over a quarter of a mile. Five men on-board escaped via life rafts before the plane sank in water over 170 feet deep. The crew was rescued from the lake six hours later and was instructed not to disclose any details of the flight, its mission or its loss. As the mission was classified, these details were not released until fifty years later.
In 2001, a private dive team searching for the B-29 using side-scan sonar found the wreckage in the northern arm of Lake Mead. Because the bomber lay inside a National Recreation Area, responsibility for the site fell to the National Park Service. Due to the cold deep water, the plane has been well preserved. Currently the site is off limits to divers.
Navigation