Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
Museum Month: The Neon Museum In Las Vegas, Nevada
When the plug is pulled at casinos, chapels, restaurants and other businesses, Sin City's iconic art form – the neon sign – used to get sent to the scrapyard. That was until The Neon Museum, a 501c3 non-profit, began collecting and preserving these timeworn signs, ensuring the treasures won't be forgotten.
Since 1996, volunteers have devoted their time to preserving the legacy of the disregarded signs of Las Vegas, keeping them in a dusty, three-acre lot dubbed the "Neon Boneyard." Wander around and find dead casino marquees, unlit wedding chapel signs and bygone used car billboards scattered about like noodles in alphabet soup.
Gallery: The Neon Boneyard in Las Vegas, Nevada
Not only is the Neon Boneyard full of cool visuals, it also illuminates a side of Las Vegas history that many people wouldn't otherwise get a chance to see. For now, travelers must make an appointment in advance in order to visit the Neon Boneyard. However, there are plans to open a bona fide visitor's center in what was once the lobby of the La Concha Motel, a 1960's curvilinear structure that almost fell victim to a bulldozer in 2003 until preservationists swept in and relocated the lobby to the Boneyard.
The team has worked to assemble an outdoor "gallery" of restored signs along the east end of Fremont Street, where visitors can check out nine once forgotten signs that have been restored to blinking glory. That gallery, which includes a lamp-shaped sign originally installed in 1966 at the Aladdin Hotel, is available free to the public 24 hours per day.
The team has worked to assemble an outdoor "gallery" of restored signs along the east end of Fremont Street, where visitors can check out nine once forgotten signs that have been restored to blinking glory. That gallery, which includes a lamp-shaped sign originally installed in 1966 at the Aladdin Hotel, is available free to the public 24 hours per day.
Today: Help raise miles for UNICEF >>
Filed under: Arts and Culture, History, Learning, Photos, North America, United States
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Evan May 11th 2012 9:47AM
Don't care where they go to die. Just tell me where all the Reid-backing Nevadan voters are buried.
Garry Carlson May 10th 2012 1:54PM
Whaer are all these reality TV shows that propose to show interest in items like these? American Pickers, Restorations, various Pawn shows? Don't tell me there is no market for these items! If I had a business, I would fight like heck to have a old restored Vagas sign out front!
Gerald Logue May 10th 2012 3:24PM
Didn't they show this place in an episode of Storage Wars, when Barry found an S&H Green Stamps sign?
John May 10th 2012 9:15PM
I highly recommend this tour. Las Vegas doesn't do a good job of preserving its history, and I found the Neon graveyard fascinating.
Jennifer May 20th 2012 11:18PM
I saw this on Storage Wars. It seems senseless to save these signs when the "museum" just stores them out in the weather without any protection. They are just going to rust. A real museum would preserve something that is of any historical value.