Beaver Dam, AZ, U.S.A

Beaver Dam Station and Dam Bar

Beaver Dam is an unincorporated community in Mohave County, Arizona, located along the pack horse route of the Old Spanish Trail from 1828 and the later wagon route of the Mormon Road between Salt Lake City and Los Angeles from 1847. The town was named for a beaver dam that occupied and held back the waters on the wash when the first Mormon party under Jefferson Hunt established the wagon road through the area in 1847.

The Mormon Road was used by Forty-niners in 1849 and Mormon colonists and other travelers from then on.  The road passes southward from the Beaver Dam Mountains to the Virgin River along Beaver Dam Wash to where it met the river. From 1855, the road was a major wagon freighting road until the railroad arrived in Nevada in 1905. Beaver Dam was first settled by Mormon colonists in 1863.

The Beaver Dam Wash from the Bridge on Main Street

The town is built on both sides of the Beaver Dam wash – an impressive feature that you can cross at the bridge on Main Street.  Otherwise, you’re traveling through on ATVs, which, by the way, you can still do on the old Mormon Road.

The town is about as small as they come.  It features a golf course with a lodge and the town’s only restaurant.  There is a small convenience store which adjoins The Dam Bar/Dam Deli – an inaccurate sign as there is no deli – just a bar with a couple of pool tables in the back and karaoke on Wednesday nights. The Mojave County Fire Station and Driver’s License Division are located in Beaver Dam, as is the Littlefield post office.  Beaver Dam features an elementary school, a junior high, and a high school.  I know the high school has a cross-country team, as I see them running sometimes when I’m out in the afternoon.  The only thing Beaver Dam has an abundance of is trailer parks.  I’ve found six so far.  I suspect the population more than doubles during the winter months.

There is a car dealer in Beaver Dam, but there is no gas station in Beaver Dam – yet.  One is currently under construction, but according to the locals, it’s been under construction for several years now with no completion date in sight.

So why is there always so much traffic in and out of Beaver Dam?  Two words:  lottery tickets.  Beaver Dam – and its nearby neighbor, Littlefield, have the distinction of being the only towns in Arizona on I-15.  All those travelers between Salt Lake and Las Vegas have to buy their lottery tickets somewhere. The Lodge, the convenience store, and the Dam Bar all sell Arizona lottery tickets.  When the jackpot was over $400 million, cars were parked up and down Main Street and the line in the convenience store was out the door.  Alas, the winner came from Massachusetts!  Maybe next time…

When winter season arrives, the locals keep things hopping.  There’s a Flea Market every weekend, lawn mower races on the second Saturday of each month, and of course, the Beaver Dam Jam scheduled for May 6.  So much to look forward to…