This Week in History: The Hoover Dam

By Elizabeth Griffin—Intern

Ninety years ago today, on July 7, 1930, construction on the Hoover Dam Project began. For the next five years, over 21,000 workers labored tirelessly to complete this monumental task. When he dedicated the dam on September 30, 1935, Franklin D. Roosevelt stated, "I came, I saw, and I was conquered, as everyone will be who sees for the first time this great feat of mankind." Indeed, the Hoover Dam is a great feat of mankind that still inspires advancements in power technologies today, even in our own backyard! In fact, the New-Deal Era initiative headed by the Tennessee Valley Authority and intended to connect West Tennessee to Knoxville was brought about by these advancements. 

TVA Dam

While the dam's construction took only five years from start to finish, the project was 30 years in the making. It went through a cycle of approval and rejection before finally reaching the beginning stages of construction. The purpose of this project was to generate hydroelectric power, or power generated by water and create a reservoir of water for Southern California and Los Angeles. The project was also meant to save farmlands and communities that often flooded from the Colorado River. In all, 6.6 million tons of concrete were used to build the thick walls drilled into the canyon to hold the water and divert the direction of the Colorado River. Millions of tons of steel were also brought in to reinforce these concrete walls. However, this was no easy task as many men died from the heat, sickness, or work-related accidents.     

Needless to say, technologies had to be developed to build what would become of the world's most massive man-made structures and safely. The techniques developed during the scope of this project advanced technologies that we still use today—especially in the realm of hydroelectric power. In fact, we can see those advancements here in West Tennessee with the Pickwick Dam. One of nine dams constructed as a part of a New-Deal era initiative connects Knoxville to the Western regions of Tennessee. Pickwick Dam was erected around the same time as the Hoover Dam during a time of innovation that spread throughout the United States like wildfire. Following in the footsteps of the advancements made on the west coast, the Pickwick Dam provides hydroelectric power to various parts of West Tennessee, including Hardin County. 

The Hoover Dam was a project that expanded the scope of understanding of hydroelectric power. Its influence spread throughout the country and can still be found here in West Tennessee today. Who would have thought this project could have an impact on a region so far removed by both time and distance?