Las Vegas finally gets its recognition as the neon capital of the world with a new museum dedicated to the 18th element and its connection with the rise of Sin City.
The Neon Boneyard at the Neon Museum in Las Vagas.
Courtesy the Neon Museum
The iconic, glowing “Aladdin’s lamp” is one of the most po…
The iconic, glowing “Aladdin’s lamp” is one of the most popular signs featured in the Neon Museum’s Downtown Gallery. Restored and installed on Fremont Street at Las Vegas Boulevard in 1997, it is one of nine signs featured as public art throughout the downtown Las Vegas area.
Courtesy the Neon Museum
The Neon Museum features more than 150 unrestored signs from som…
The Neon Museum features more than 150 unrestored signs from some of the most famous and storied Las Vegas hotels and casinos. Guests can visit the museum’s Neon Boneyard via guided tours that offer information on the signs, the city and the men and women who created both.
Courtesy the Neon Museum
Located on Fremont Street, Binion’s Horseshoe casino hotel fea…
Located on Fremont Street, Binion’s Horseshoe casino hotel featured some of the most dramatic neon signs found in downtown Las Vegas from 1951 until the property was sold in 2004. The Neon Museum houses 17 sections of the Binion’s sign, including the famous “H Wall” which has been restored and now serves as a gateway for guests visiting the Neon Boneyard.
Courtesy the Neon Museum
The Neon Museum in Las Vegas tells the story of Las Vegas throug…
The Neon Museum in Las Vegas tells the story of Las Vegas through some of the city’s most colorful and iconic neon signs.
Courtesy the Neon Museum
The Neon Boneyard at the Neon Museum in Las Vagas.
Courtesy the Neon Museum
The Neon Boneyard is a two and a half acre outdoor exhibition sp…
The Neon Boneyard is a two and a half acre outdoor exhibition space featuring the largest collection of neon signs in the world. Located at the Neon Museum in downtown Las Vegas, the outdoor exhibition space features more than 150 unrestored signs dating from the 1930s through present day.
Courtesy the Neon Museum
The La Concha Motel was designed in 1961 by famed African-Americ…
The La Concha Motel was designed in 1961 by famed African-American architect and American Institute of Architects fellow Paul Revere Williams. In 2007, the shell-shaped Mid-Century Modern lobby building was rescued from demolition and moved to its current location to serve as the Neon Museum’s visitors’ center. Its opening on Oct. 27 heralded the official debut of the museum as a cultural institution ready to welcome more visitors to its iconic Neon Boneyard than ever before.
Courtesy the Neon Museum
The Neon Boneyard at the Neon Museum in Las Vagas.
Courtesy the Neon Museum
The Neon Boneyard at the Neon Museum in Las Vagas.
Courtesy the Neon Museum
The Neon Boneyard at the Neon Museum in Las Vagas.
Courtesy the Neon Museum
The Chief Hotel Court opened in 1939 near Las Vegas’ downtown …
The Chief Hotel Court opened in 1939 near Las Vegas’ downtown district at 1201 E. Fremont Street. The neon sign that remains from the property was created circa 1940, making it one of the oldest neon signs in Las Vegas today. It has been completely restored and is now installed as part of the Neon Museum’s Downtown Gallery on Fremont Street at Las Vegas Boulevard.
Courtesy the Neon Museum
The Green Shack restaurant was originally established as a busin…
The Green Shack restaurant was originally established as a business catering to Hoover Dam construction workers, and operated continuously from 1930 until 1999. It now resides inside the Neon Boneyard and is the oldest sign currently featured in the Neon Museum’s collection.
Courtesy the Neon Museum
One of the most popular signs found inside the Neon Boneyard is …
One of the most popular signs found inside the Neon Boneyard is the colorful Stardust Hotel and Casino spire. Created by AdArt Sign Company for the hotel casino, the sign design changed through the years to reflect popular design trends of the 60s, 70s and 80s. The Neon Museum’s collection features several sections of each version of this iconic sign.
Courtesy the Neon Museum
Founded in 1907, Anderson Dairy’s “Andy” Anderson sign was…
Founded in 1907, Anderson Dairy’s “Andy” Anderson sign was created in the 1950s by designer Herman Boernge. The playful neon version of the cartoon “Andy” Anderson mascot remained at the dairy until 1994 when he joined the Neon Museum’s Downtown Gallery, a collection of nine restored signs installed as public art near Fremont Street and Las Vegas Boulevard.
Courtesy the Neon Museum
The Hacienda Hotel and Casino opened in 1956 on the south end of…
The Hacienda Hotel and Casino opened in 1956 on the south end of the Las Vegas Strip. The Horse and Rider greeted travelers as the centerpiece of the hotel’s roadside signage, originally rotating atop a pylon emblazoned with the hotel’s name. In 1996, the Horse and Rider became the first neon sign to be fully restored and installed as public art by the Neon Museum on Las Vegas Boulevard at Fremont Street.
The glow from Las Vegas got a little bit brighter when the Neon Museum (neonmuseum.org) flipped its switch this fall. The new museum exhibits the largest collection of neon signs in the world, with more than 150 examples dating from the 1930s, when the rise in popularity of neon advertising met the legalization of gambling. Included are icons from the Desert Inn, Flamingo, and Stardust (with its whopping 11,000 lamps and 1.2 miles of neon tubing).
After collecting and restoring the signs over the past 15 years, the museum has now made them accessible to the public in a two-acre area called the Neon Boneyard, housed in the former lobby of the midcentury modern La Concha Motel. The lobby of the hotel—designed by architect Paul Revere Williams in 1961—was saved from demolition and moved downtown in 2006 for this purpose, as a house for neon.
For buildings that weren’t as fortunate as La Concha Motel—what with Las Vegas’s fascination with the shiny and new—their neon signs may be the only proof of their onetime existence. “Often, a neon sign is the only remaining piece of a place that holds significance for the history of Las Vegas,” says executive director Danielle Kelly. They are “visual treasures that serve as placeholders for the many stories of one of America’s most luminous cities.” Restored signs from the museum’s collection are also now installed back on the Strip and as public art downtown.
Lindsey M. Roberts is a freelance writer outside of Seattle, specializing in interiors and design, and a former assistant managing editor at ARCHITECT. Her work has appeared in National Geographic, Gray, Preservation, and The Washington Post, for which she writes a monthly column about products for the home.
