Boulder City- Hoover Dam Museum

This nice little museum is located inside the Boulder Dam Hotel and is completely free. It's a small museum, but very nicely done as it provides a lot of useful and interesting information about the history of Boulder City and the dam. It's a walk through with various exhibits in several rooms. It took me about 30 minutes to complete, so it's not really very extensive but well worth the visit.

Dam fascinating piece of US history. The Dam people were nice and helpful, the Dam exhibits were really well all around. Had a Dam good visit.

It's History to MeSmall, free museum located inside the Boulder Dam Hotel. The Good:*Free but they ask for donations*Small collection of photographs, artifacts and written personal accounts of the building of the Boulder/Hoover Dam. *Gives a good history of how the name changed from "Boulder Dam" to "Hoover Dam."The Meh:*Very small place that you can walk thru in less than 20min. Tldr: Nothing worth going out of your way for but if you're staying in the hotel or visiting DT Boulder City then def worth a look.

We had an awesome visit to Hoover Dam again, this time showing our Grandsons.They were completely in awe of it!!Although we weren't able to see the documentary films this time since it was the day after Thanksgiving and oh so busy & packed.It's a trip they want to come back & finish.I highly recommend seeing the dam up close and walking the walkway near the freeway. You get a full look at just how massive this really is!They loved the view and are so interested in what it took to build this.They were able to see the historic side of Boulder City and where many of the workmen lived and raised their families.It's good to go at the opening time so you can get a parking place at go at your own pace to see the films and views.There is a really nice gift shop & a cafe tgat has a screaming burger!! Dint miss this!!

My husband, myself, and three adult children drove to Boulder City for a tour of the Boulder City-Hoover Dam Hotel and Museum, Saturday, July 3rd, on my youngest daughter's 25th birthday. This hotel is listed on The National Register of Historic Places. There is a wealth of history involving the hotel. Later in its life, they added the museum when a group of residents went about to save it when it fell into disrepair in the '90s.It's both charming and welcoming upon entering the front door. It has an ancient grand piano in the sitting area with a beautiful fireplace that beckons the visitor to its mantle.Hollywood elite from year's past were guests there in its folds, some longer than others. This hotel and many of the surrounding buildings and homes were constructed by workers who built the dam. The architecture is impressive because there weren't modern amenities and conveniences we take for granted today.Upstairs you will find a self-guided tour through the displays and pictures of the building of the dam and home sites of the families. It's educational and gives the visitor a brief look inside the lives of the men who built the dam, the photographer who took many of the photos documenting the history of it's construction from it's inception to it's completion.My family and I thoroughly enjoyed our visit. I recommend checking it out. Admission is free. Donations can be made at the end of the tour by the guest book of $5.00. Hours are Monday -Sunday 7am to 7pm.

Very interesting. Very historic and informatics. The place is great a lot to learn from specialty that i ,I've going to Boulder City. The place is perfect it is in a historic hotel with a great restaurant and a FREE museum yes you read it right FREE! Of course toward the end of the tour there is a donation box where it so worth it to give a few buckaroos. I have taken a a lot of photos for you guys to see what I am talking about. The place has a lot of parking . Informative brochures are also in there to see, audio and visual. So if you are around the area this place is a must stop by and check it out. I do recommend this place and will surely be back.

This is a great stop on your way to or from the dam. We opted to skip the tour at the dam due to long lines but I remembered this little museum in Boulder City so we stopped in. The museum is free, small (about 3 rooms), but it's very well put together and is really high quality. The museum walks you through the building process of the dam and the growth of Boulder City around the dam, and also has a 20 minute film that goes in-depth about building the dam and installing the turbines. The museum has a small but very fairly priced gift shop. They also take donations for the museum now that they don't charge anything for admission. Overall, I really like this museum and I like bringing people here when we drive through Boulder City to go to the dam. I'd recommend stopping in if you haven't gotten the chance, you'll be pleasantly surprised at how great this little local museum is.

I enjoy museums. Unlike many of the monotonous college lectures that I sat through where I wished I was anyplace else, well-done museums are successful at making the exact subject entertaining and keeping my attention. A well-done museum tells a story. The Boulder City-Hoover Dam Museum tells a story of a hostile desert that through the hard work of Six Companies employees created an engineering marvel, lake, and commendable city. A couple of Saturdays previous (closed on Sundays) after having breakfast downstairs at the Restaurant in the historic Boulder Dam Hotel, I was up for this story. This is a tiny museum large on substance. It sits in level two of the Boulder Dam Hotel. When you enter the Boulder Dam Hotel through the main entrance off Arizona Street, head for the staircase that is directly ahead and to the right of registration. But stop for a second. If you are hungry, to the left is the Restaurant. They serve a decent breakfast in a historical setting. After stopping for a second, you want to climb up the staircase to level two. At the end of the hall is the museum. When you walk down the hall, keep in mind that admission is $2 for adults. The Boulder City-Hoover Dam Museum is a square layout divided into separate rooms that correspond to the nine exhibits. These nine exhibits are the chapters of the story. It is a story told through signs with white letters on a gray background, maps, memorabilia, antiques, pictures, displays, the sound of hammering, and interpretive exhibits. The pictures that myself and fellow Yelpers posted showcase the exhibits. Walking into the museum counter clockwise, the story starts off as a desert region that is inhospitable to living in the era of the Great Depression. Walking deeper into the museum counter clockwise, the story develops into the idea of turning the desert into a hospitable region.The seeds of the Hoover Dam is born. Suffering and perseverance are the themes. Exhibits display the suffering that newcomers experienced. The suffering exacerbated with the conditions of the Seven Companies employees when they labored to build the dam. The exhibits show in detail the suffering. Another theme of the story is a celebration of building the Hoover Dam. I learned amazing facts such as, "Engineers had calculated that if the dam were built in one piece, the heat produced by the setting concrete would take 125 years to cool." When I progressed through the museum, I was progressing through an education in Hoover Dam. The vintage exhibit is Lives on the Line. This is a room size diorama of Six Companies Workers constructing Hoover Dam. From here the museum focuses on the development of Boulder City. An interesting fact is that it was a company town that was supposed to be temporary. The exhibits continue the story with a map of the original Boulder City grid overlapped with today's Boulder City. The exhibits talk about the naming of Boulder City and the first City Manager. Additional exhibits help tell the story. As the museum concludes, the story has a surprising ending:" Today power from Hoover Dam plays just a small role in lighting up Las Vegas. The real benefit comes from Lake Mead, which supplies most of the water that has helped make the Las Vegas Valley one of the busiest, fastest growing areas in the country." Regardless that this museum trails in size to the Clark County Museum and Nevada State Museum, color me impressed. It held my attention for the half hour that I spent there. I left with an education on the construction and history of the Hoover Dam and development of Boulder City. I recommend visiting this museum with a Boulder City or Lake Mead attraction. Or even part of a tour of the Boulder City Historic District. And if you visit it, I also recommend combining it with a breakfast downstairs in the Restaurant. I guarantee that when you leave the Boulder City-Hoover Dam Museum that you will gain more knowledge on Hoover Dam and Boulder City. And, knowledge is power!

While walking to Sherman's House of Antiques I noticed a beautiful old building across the street. It was the Boulder Dam Hotel. Its sign out front advertised a restaurant and receptions, as well as a museum. "Museum?" I thought to myself, "That can't be right." So I walked in and asked the lady working in the lobby if there really was a museum in the hotel. Sure enough there is, and it's located up a couple of steps and down a hallway.I wasn't expecting much. Besides the fact that it was at the end of a hallway in an old hotel, it's in the sleepy town of Boulder City. I was imagining some signs they had printed themselves with maybe a few artifacts from the dam. That was about it. (No offense to Boulder City- I'm from a small town too and know what they usually count as a "museum").Well, I have to say I was very happy to see how well-made this museum was. Yes, it was still a bit on the small side, but it was definitely as nice as any of the museums back in Vegas. Professionally designed information hangs on the walls and there are plenty of interactive exhibits to keep things interesting. There were also a few areas where they were playing audio-testimonials from people who had built the dam or lived in Boulder City at the time.Although I've learned a lot of this information previously from the Springs Preserve and the Clark County Museum, I still managed to learn a few new things during my stay here. The most interesting bit was that the government had planned to tear Boulder City down once the dam was finished. Instead, the town stayed and was finally handed over from the government to become incorporated in 1960.If you are a tourist visiting the Hoover Dam, I think this is a nice stop to learn a little more about the history and what went into building the Dam. If you are a local, this is a fun place to spend an hour and learn more about the history of this area. Even if you know a bit about the Dam from other museums in town, you still may learn something new like I did!Honestly, if this museum were located in Vegas I might give it three stars since I don't think I'll feel the urge to go back a second time. But considering this is in Boulder City, down a hotel hallway, and only costs $2 a person, I think a four star review is fair.

Fun little museum! We stayed here a few nights and as hotels guests we were able to get in for free. I saw a sign that said something like $2 per person. Which isn't too bad. Unless you're cheap...Its full of good info on the area and about Hoover dam. If you're into history like I am this is a place you want to visit before you go to Hoover dam. Will only take about 30 minutes of your time. And you'll help out the humble Boulder city hotel.