The Hoover Dam is an iconic man-made wonder that has been attracting tourists from all around the world for decades. The construction of this modern marvel was a notable time in Nevada’s history. At the time, Las Vegas was a small city of just over 5,000 people. This was during the Great Depression so the project attracted thousands of workers to the area. There’s no telling what Nevada would look like today if the Hoover Dam hadn’t come to fruition. Taking only five years to complete in between 1931 and 1936, the dam was one of the largest and most incredible construction projects in U.S. history. We’ve compiled 10 amazing photos of the dam’s construction which are sure to fill you with nostalgia for the Silver State’s early days.

1. Workers are seen posing with a piece of machinery called the "Jumbo Rig", which was designed to speed up the Hoover Dam's tunnel drilling process. It was built on the back of a 10 ton truck and allowed 30-40 drills to be operated at one time.
U.S. National Archives and Records Administration/Wikimedia Commons
2. Here workers are photographed riding up a skip to the top of the construction site where they will start their shifts.
U.S. National Archives and Records Administration/Wikimedia Commons
3. It took four tons of dynamite to excavate the site of the dam in the canyon.
U.S. National Archives and Records Administration/Wikimedia Commons
4. This photograph shows the first 8-cubic yard batch of concrete being poured in the dam—the first of many!
U.S. National Archives and Records Administration/Wikimedia Commons
5. It's hard to imagine the massive amount of concrete that went into constructing this epic dam. Here you can see the concrete actually being poured into the separate blocks of the dam's foundation.
USBR/WIkimedia Commons

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6. A crane picks up a gigantic section of penstock pipe.
Wikimedia Commons
7. Six Companies, Inc. oversaw construction and employed 5,251 workers over the five years it took to build the dam. Workers came from diverse backgrounds, including many Apache natives as seen below.
U.S. National Archives and Records Administration/Wikimedia Commons
8. Workers arrived by the busload from Boulder City to the worksite. The double deck coach shown below could transport up to 150 men at a time.
U.S. National Archives and Records Administration/Wikimedia Commons
9. Here you can see the rarely seen upstream face of Hoover Dam, nearly completed in May 1935.
USBR/Wikimedia Commons
10. Men from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation pose in front of the newly completed dam.
U.S. National Archives and Records Administration/Wikimedia Commons

The Hoover Dam is such a well-known sight nowadays. Seeing these photos of the dam’s construction is such an amazing sight! Take a look at these photos of 10 famous Nevada landmarks long ago for another trip down memory lane.

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