A Brief History of Henderson, Nevada

The area that is now Henderson was first discovered by Spanish explorers in the early 19th century. The area was mainly small farming communities for a long period of time, until construction on the Boulder Dam (now called the Hoover Dam) was started in 1931, bringing workers to the area. The township of Henderson emerged in 1941, with a magnesium plant as its backbone. The magnesium produced in Henderson was used in the war effort in World War II for munitions and airplane parts, but after the war most of the employees moved away and many houses went vacant. In order to prevent the city from becoming a ghost town, the Chamber of Commerce convinced the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce to invite the Nevada Legislature to visit the Boulder Dam. The Nevada Legislature spent a weekend visiting the city, and unanimously approved a bill that gave the Colorado River Commission of Nevada the authority to purchase the industrial plants, saving it from becoming war surplus property.

Local industry helped the city recover, and it was officially incorporated on April 16, 1953. The city began to grow rapidly, and expanded from an original 13 square miles to the 94.5 square miles that it is today, and the second largest city in Nevada.

For more information of the history of Henderson, Nevada, please visit these websites:
http://www.cityofhenderson.com/mayor/php/history.php
http://www.city-data.com/us-cities/The-West/Henderson-History.html