Boulder City and Henderson, Nevada

Townsite Homes in Henderson, Nevada. 1942

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

American World War II Heritage City

Due to their proximity to Hoover Dam, the surrounding areas of Boulder City and the City of Henderson became centers of military activity during World War II. A U.S. Army post was established in Boulder City in 1941 to protect the dam from enemy sabotage. The post was staffed by a battalion of military police that, at its peak, included 27 officers and more than 700 enlisted men. Hoover Dam also provided cheap hydroelectric power and an abundant water supply that attracted industrial development and transformed the surrounding desert into a center of wartime defense manufacturing.

During the war, magnesium was a vital component in the production of aircraft, incendiary bombs, and other parts of America’s airborne arsenal. With its reliable source of electric power and a plentiful water supply, Henderson was ideally suited to magnesium production. In mid-1941, Basic Magnesium Inc. (BMI) was formed there as part of a joint venture between Basic Refractories, Inc., a Cleveland-based company operated by Howard Eels, and the British materials manufacturer Magnesium Elektron Inc. (MEL). Funding for the construction of the BMI plant was provided by the Defense Plant Corporation (DPC), a subsidiary of the federal Reconstruction Finance Corporation. At its peak, BMI employed 14,000 workers in the Henderson and Boulder City area.