Hoover Dam is a concrete arch-gravity dam in the Black Canyon on the Colorado River, at the border between Nevada and Arizona. It was constructed between 1931 and 1936 during the Great Depression . Its construction was the result of a massive effort involving thousands of workers, and cost over one hundred lives. Originally known as Boulder Dam it was officially renamed Hoover Dam, in 1947. The dam impounds Lake Mead, the largest reservoir in the United States by volume when it is full. As happens in case of all dams, the changes in water flow and use caused by Hoover Dam’s operation have had a large impact on the Colorado River Delta. For six years after the construction of the dam, while Lake Mead filled, virtually no water reached the mouth of the river. The delta’s estuary, which once had a freshwater-saltwater mixing zone stretching 64 km south of the river’s mouth, was turned into an inverse estuary. In recent years – with the draught that has struck western USA level of Lake Mead has fallen dramatically, which can be observed on the shores over the dam.

U.S. Route 66 was one of the original highways in the U.S. Highway System, established in 1926, with road signs erected the following year. The highway, which became one of the most famous roads in the United States, originally ran from Chicago, Illinois, to Santa Monica in Los Angeles County, California, covering a total of 3,940 km. US 66 served as a primary route for those who migrated west, especially during the Dust Bowl of the 1930s. US 66 underwent many improvements and realignments over its lifetime, but was officially removed from the United States Highway System in 1985 after it had been replaced in its entirety by segments of the Interstate Highway System. Portions of the road that passed through Illinois, Missouri, New Mexico, and Arizona have been communally designated a National Scenic Byway of the name “Historic Route 66”.

Desert View Watchtower, also known as the Indian Watchtower at Desert View, is a 21 m high stone building located on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon within Grand Canyon National Park approx 30 km to the east of Grand Canyon Village. The four-story structure, completed in 1932, was designed by American architect Mary Colter, an employee of the Fred Harvey Company who also created and designed many other buildings in the Grand Canyon vicinity including Hermit’s Rest and the Lookout Studio. The interior contains murals by Fred Kabotie.