Completed in December 1933, the Boulder Dam Hotel was built to house the large number of tourists who wanted to visit Boulder Dam, as Hoover Dam was called at the time. Thousands came to southern Nevada to observe the construction of the dam, often taking a train that ran directly from Los Angeles to Boulder City or driving up the Arrowhead Highway, later Highway 91. By the summer of 1933, it was clear that the town needed a hotel.