About Bullhead City

Bullhead City, located across the Colorado River from Laughlin, Nevada, was born as Davis Dam began to rise in the 1940s, but its history began long before that time. Imagine a genuine old West mining town named Hardyville after its founder, William Harrison Hardy. It was a simple river port with huge steamboats chugging up and down the Colorado River stacked high with food, mining supplies and some miners, too. Relaxed slow-moving life. It was the place to be if you wanted to make some money and relax a little. It was even the Mohave County seat for a while. By the time the railroad from Needles through Yucca to Kingman and beyond was built, Hardyville had been heen around for eight prosperous years. But then, with the railroad providing quicker transportation than river boats and mining pushing away from the river, the town was abandoned. Hardyville was a real-life ghost town. Two fires demolished the area over two years, 1872 and '73, leaving little to show that the town ever existed except the Hardyville Cemetery, which still exists overlooking the 1700 block of Highway 95, above the Hardyville Mural.

Time passed and it was time for the construction of Davis Dam. The name Bullhead City has an interesting origin. There is a rock, a rather large rock, that rested in the channel of the Colorado River, shaped like a bull's head. Once the dam had been constructed, the rock which once served as a landmark was submerged almost completely. What is left above water level is no longer recognizable as the famous rock. Since that time, Bullhead City has grown and expanded into what it is today. More is to come, that's for sure. Who knows how the history will be written in a hundred more years?

The other part of this area's history is that of Fort Mojave and Mohave Valley. The spellings can be switched but the origins are different. Mojave originates from the Spanish language while the white man here spelled it Mohave.

Instead of miners and steamboats, this area was home to the Mojave Tribe who were great farmers. Fort Mojave was an American Army settlement built to watch over "Mohave Road" that crossed the river. When Mohave County was established, Fort Mojave was done away with and Mohave City took over. But in 1890 we had another ghost town on our hands. As years passed the government split the land in a checkerboard fashion between the natives and the railroads. Today, the remaining Mojave Tribe own that land still, but they do more than farming. Don't misunderstand, they still farm, but they also own and operate several Casinos, restaurants, utility companies, home subdivisions, a championship golf course and more.

From mining towns to native tribes and double ghost towns, this area has recovered quite well and still has that relaxed feeling it has over 150 years ago.