Boulder City is a town in the Mojave Wasteland. Boulder City was formerly a functioning town but was destroyed by the NCR during the First Battle of Hoover Dam. Normally Boulder City acts as a mill town in which all the concrete mixing workers live at, but as of now, Boulder City is a practical ghost town with one permanent resident since Deathclaws stopped production of limestone from Quarry Junction.[1]
Background
Edit
Boulder City began its life as a federal company town, established in 1931 by the Bureau of Reclamation and Six Companies, Inc. to house the workers contracted to build the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River. The town replaced the collection of ramshackle tents and sheds established along the river since the beginning of the Dam's construction in 1930. As a publicly owned company town, Boulder was carefully planned and built up as a model community under Saco Rienk de Boer, a Dutch-born urbanist. Although his plan was ultimately rejected due to the projected costs, Boulder City was nevertheless heavily inspired by his work and designed to house around five thousand workers. Entrepreneurs had to be vetted by the Bureau of Reclamation in order to set up shop within the town and any visitors had to enter the town with a special permit. Since it was also founded during the Prohibition, alcohol was naturally banned within city limits. The city would not be incorporated until later in the century, and would remain relatively small and contained, like the nearby Henderson.[2]
A peripheral town by the late 21st century, Boulder City survived the Great War almost unscathed and became a frontier, sleepy town functioning until 2277 and the First Battle of Hoover Dam. Vacated by its denizens, the town was packed with high explosives and used as a booby trap against the Legion's primary force. When Caesar's forces entered the town, lured in by Chief Hanlon's battle plan, the town exploded around them. For the price of a town, the NCR broke the back of the Legion's offensive and threw it back across the Colorado. A memorial to the NCR soldiers who fell during the battle was placed at the western end of town, near the main entrance.[3][4]
Nearly the entire town was leveled in the battle, sparing only the concrete mixing yard near the Boulder City train station and the Big Horn Saloon. In the following years, the ruins became a stopover town for caravans resting at the Saloon and a source of concrete for the NCR's fortifications built up and down the Colorado, produced using limestone shipped in by train from Quarry Junction.[5][6] However, because of the recent Deathclaw infestation at Quarry Junction, limestone mining has ground to a halt which has in turn put a hold on deliveries and production of concrete. All the concrete workers that usually inhabit the town have wandered off leaving only Ike, the bartender of the town saloon, as the only resident.[7]
PlaqueEdit
LayoutEdit
There is little in the town apart from the Boulder City ruins and a saloon, run by Ike. At the western entrance, there is the Boulder City Memorial, honoring the soldiers who died at the First Battle of Hoover Dam being looked at by Private Kowalski.
BuildingsEdit
- Big Horn Saloon
- Boulder City train station
- Boulder City Memorial
- Great Khan hideout in Boulder City ruins
Notable lootEdit
Big Horn SaloonEdit
- One Sunset Sarsaparilla star bottle cap - second table on the left after entering.
- Three bottles of Nuka-Cola Quartz on the middle shelf on the back wall that must either be stolen or purchased from Ike.
Related questsEdit
- They Went That-a-Way
- Ring-a-Ding-Ding!
- Boulder City Showdown
- Defacing the Humble Stone
- We Must Stop Meeting Like This, III
NotesEdit
- Attacking the memorial will cause Kowalski to confront you. The only ways to get out of it without either being attacked or gaining NCR Infamy, is by passing a Speech check of 30 or immediately leaving and waiting several days to return.
- Boulder City marks the beginning of the main storyline's climax in the New Vegas Strip.
- If you access Manny Vargas's terminal in his motel room in Novac, it will tell you that the Great Khans reside in Boulder City and the location gets marked on your map.
- Boulder City is one of the few places with an abundance of ravens that is not within the starting region.
- Even if your character is Vilified by the Khans, they will not attack.
- Since there's no script removing ownership from the items inside, taking the supplies in their hideout still count as stealing even after the Great Khans leave.
- In the upper floor of an abandoned building just north-east of the entrance to Boulder City Ruins, one can find a Ranger holodisk message.
- The outskirts have an abundance of skeletons lying around.
- There is a traveling merchant that travels between the Big Horn Saloon and El Dorado Gas & Service along the highway to the west.
AppearancesEdit
Boulder City appears only in Fallout: New Vegas.
Behind the scenesEdit
- Boulder City is based on the real world location Boulder City, Nevada. Lake Mead, located next to Boulder City, is the home of the Hoover Dam.
- The city's motto of "Home of the Eagles", seen on the Boulder City train station sign, mirrors the mascot and motto of the real world Boulder City High School.
GalleryEdit
ReferencesEdit
- ↑ The Courier: "Where does the concrete come from?"
Ike: "Most of the limestone comes from Quarry Junction out west. The supply had stopped for awhile because of a Deathclaw problem. I heard some badass wastelander killed the Deathclaws, and deliveries of limestone have been coming in again. I don't think they've gotten the trains up and running yet, but most of the concrete plant workers have come back to town now. Good for business."
(Ike's dialogue) - ↑ Real-life history.
- ↑ Fallout: New Vegas Official Game Guide Collector's Edition p.370-371: "[3.32] Boulder City
Boulder City, sprawling though its ruins are, has never been a sizable settlement post-war. It is a minor location, mostly notable for its proximity to Hoover Dam [3.33] and the 188 Trading Post [5.02]. It's a common resting spot for people on their way to New Vegas and for troops moving to and from the dam. There are not many intact buildings, as it was the site of intense fighting between NCR and Caesar's Legion during the first Battle of Hoover Dam. The Rangers lured some of the toughest veteran Legionaries into the town and blew it to pieces with explosives that had been strategically placed ahead of time.
War Memorial
A slab of limestone carved with the names of those who gave their lives during the first Battle of Hoover Dam. Private Kowalski is paying his respects here. Carve additional indents into the War Memorial to begin Free Quest: Defacing the Humble Stone.
Ranger Lutz' Last Stand"
(Fallout: New Vegas Official Game Guide Collector's Edition Tour of the Mojave Wasteland) - ↑ The Courier: "What happened to Boulder City?"
Monroe: "Destroyed during the Battle of Hoover Dam a couple of years ago. The town was set up as a trap for Caesar's Legion. The sharpshooters in the Rangers picked off the Legion's veterans from a distance, and the rest of the Legion just rushed on in. Then - boom!"
(Monroe's dialogue) - ↑ The Courier: "Tell me about Boulder City."
Ike: "Most of the town is rubble - destroyed during the Battle of Hoover Dam - and the only other thing around here is the concrete mixing yard."
(Ike's dialogue) - ↑ The Courier: "What's the concrete used for?"
Ike: "The NCR has been constructing bunkers up and down the river. From what I've heard, it's a little late for that. Travelers over at the 188 - just up the road - said that the Legion has overrun a couple of towns to the south."
(Ike's dialogue) - ↑ The Courier: "Where does the concrete come from?"
Ike: "Most of the limestone comes from Quarry Junction out west, but I hear some Deathclaws overran the quarry. With no work to be had, all the workers around here have wandered off. I'm the only one left in town."
(Ike's dialogue)
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
