Boulder/Hoover Dam was a feat of engineering in the 1930's. It took six companies banding together to get the 50-million-dollar bid. Building Boulder/Hoover Dam employed laborers, who relocated from all over the United States to Southern Nevada. Laborers were expendable during the Great Depression, and they were willing to work long hours in 119 F temperatures. Boulder City was built nearby to house the dam builders and their families, some of whom were the first Las Vegas area residents.