Lake Mead Parkway has gone through many name changes

Is it Lake Mead Drive or Lake Mead Parkway?

Traveling down Henderson's Lake Mead, people can find businesses that switch the designation back and forth. The roadway spans from the Las Vegas Beltway and U.S. Highway 95 to Lake Mead National Recreation Area.

Even on Google maps, on one section it is referred to as Lake Mead Parkway, followed by a sudden switch to Lake Mead Drive. The map does that all the way down Lake Mead.

Scott Magruder, a spokesman for the Nevada Department of Transportation, said it should be Lake Mead Parkway.

"It was switched to Lake Mead Parkway around 2004 or 2005," Magruder said.

Magruder said he wasn't certain why the switch took place.

"It is a bit of confusion," Magruder said. "And then you add in Lake Mead Boulevard, which makes it more confusing."

Lake Mead Boulevard leads to the lake from the western part of the valley, crossing Interstate 15 in North Las Vegas.

Magruder said businesses along the road might not have changed the name because of expenses.

"It is not a complete name change," Magruder said. "It might be too costly to change it if you have fliers or letterhead already printed up."

Magruder said the agency will look into Google's reference to make sure it is updated for Lake Mead Parkway.

According to Clark County Museum administrator Mark Hall-Patton, Lake Mead Parkway went through several name changes.

"The original name was BMP Road," Hall-Patton said.

The initials stood for Basic Magnesium Plant, which produced magnesium during World War II and contributed to people moving to the townsite that later became Henderson.

After BMP, it became Frontier Road.

"Then it was also known as the Sloan Cutoff and Highway 41," Hall-Patton said. "This was all pre-215."

Finally it became Lake Mead Drive, only to switch over to Lake Mead Parkway.

THE MEAD IN LAKE MEAD

Lake Mead, which bears the name of the street and the lake, is attributed to Elwood Mead, Hall-Patton said.

Mead was the director and later commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation.

"He was very interesting," Hall-Patton said. "He is somebody people should be much more aware of. We think in terms of the name being there, but he is so much more than that."

Mead was a key player in the Boulder Dam project, now known as Hoover Dam. Mead also was involved in the creation of Boulder City, which housed workers from the project.

Mead died in 1936.

In 2007, a commemorative plaque was placed at Hoover Dam to honor Mead.

Contact Henderson/Anthem View reporter Michael Lyle at mlyle@viewnews.com or 387-5201.