After touring around the Hoover Dam area and reading all the information kiosks we are wondering really why is it called the Hoover Dam? Much controversy over the years but it was originally called Boulder Dam. Finally in 1947 the United States Congress passed a resolution naming it after the 31st president Herbert Hoover. The road over the top of the dam was the only route for traffic to follow until a new bridge was constructed in 2010. The bridge is named the Pat Tillman/Mike O’Callaghan Bridge with no controversy that we could see. Pat gave up his career in the NFL playing with the Arizona Cardinals to go fight in Afghanistan where he was killed in action. Mike was the Governor of Nevada for 8 years in the 70s. The engineering that went into this bridge is amazing. We recommend you-tubing documentaries on the construction of both the Hoover Dam and the bridge.
The dam is not in Boulder canyon, it is in Black Canyon. So I guess changing the name was a good thing:-)