Lake Mead rings in 50 years as recreation area - Henry Brean/Las Vegas Review-Journal

The view of Lake Mead was not so different 50 years ago.On Oct. 8, 1964, the day Congress voted to designate the country’s largest man-made reservoir as its first National Recreation Area, visitors also were struck by the sight of a giant white bathtub ring marking where water used to be.That ring was a little smaller in 1964, but not by much.