The few times I had been to Las Vegas before our family reunion took me to the Cashman Center as a stage manager or production assistant. Just as you pull into this big municipal convention center complex there is a boneyard of old Las Vegas signage. For years the signs just sat there. Then, in 2012, the Neon Museum Boneyard officially opened for docent-led tours.
I didn’t know you could visit this collection until it was featured in the Amazing Race finale a couple of seasons ago. Since then, I’ve wanted to visit. While looking online for stuff to do when we were in Vegas, we looked at the museum’s website. As it turned out there was only one ticket left for more than a month out that happened to be while we were there, so I snatched it as quick as I could. I am so glad I did.
This two-acre outdoor museum is fascinating because of the story it tells and the art it showcases. My docent was fantastic. He told the story of modern Las Vegas through the signs. He also shared the stories of some specific signs in the yard. I went on a night tour so the restored signs (ones that are in proper working conditions) were lit up and the others illuminated by colored LED floodlights.
One reason bright, colorful and extravagant signs are part of the Las Vegas experience comes from the Golden Nugget, one of Vegas’ oldest casinos. Back in the day the city had an ordinance preventing signs from being placed over the sidewalk and street, so the owners concocted a way to get around it with the sign company. Instead of a sign, the whole building was wrapped with sculptured neon and lights. This began the showy displays of branding.
Interestingly, most signs on Las Vegas hotels are not owned by the resorts but rather leased from the sign companies. This way if the business goes under the signs are taken to the sign company’s boneyard for parts to possibly be reused. One of the biggest sign companies for Las Vegas is YESCO based out of Salt Lake City. They donated a good third of the signs in the museum’s collection.
The museum’s visitors’ center is also an iconic piece of Las Vegas. It is the lobby of the old La Concha Motel designed by Paul Revere Williams, one of America’s great mid-century modern architects. The building evokes a different era, a time of wonder during the space and atomic ages. 
Like many of the signs, the building itself was used to communicate a brand by suggesting the shape of a conch shell for which the motel was named.
In addition to the museum’s collection and restoration efforts, it is successfully putting some of the signs back out for public appreciation along a stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard designated a National Scenic Byway in 2008. As part of the Las Vegas Signs Project, nine historic signs have been restored and installed along this stretch of road as a public gallery. Maps to see each sign can be found on the museum website.
Some of the signs are iconic Las Vegas images such as the Stardust, Gold Nugget, and Sahara signs. Others are just great works of art from the era of Neon signage and heyday of Vegas. Either way, the collection and stories behind it are worthy of a visit. Tours are 1-hour long and must be with a docent. Be sure to book yours in advance or you may be out of luck.
