Rainbow Spotting: The Neon Boneyard, Las Vegas
Picturing Las Vegas, even after a couple of visits there, still conjures up old-school neon and glittering signs in my mind. This imagining of ‘vintage Vegas’ is steeped in a lot of Elvis movies (especially Viva Las Vegas!), my love for mid-century design, and most importantly from our visit to The Neon Museum — one of the best things I’ve ever done in Vegas, and way more fun than losing your money at a casino. The vivid rainbows of painted signs sear themselves in to your memory.
Founded in 1996, The Neon Museum has been running in downtown Las Vegas for the last 25 years. With changing exhibitions and special events occurring at different times throughout the year, the best part is a tour of the Neon Boneyard — the outdoor exhibition that houses rescued signs from all throughout Vegas’s sparkling history. The tour guides are knowledgeable and move you through the Boneyard, taking in the signs flanking the paths and sharing stories from the pasts of the different signage. A brief history of neon and its invention gives a new understanding to the signs overall.
Famous signs from the Stardust hotel, the Moulin Rouge (dismantled letters and rearranged to look like it’s spelling out ‘love’) and the La Concha Motel are all big showpieces on display in the Boneyard. The former lobby of the La Concha Motel is also the welcoming scene of the Neon Museum — a perfect example of 1950s Googie architecture, taken apart into 8 pieces, put on a truck and reassembled on the site of the Neon Museum.
Hoping to go for a tour next time you’re in Vegas? Go as early in the day as you can — the tours are all outside, so the heat of the Las Vegas sun can take its toll quite quickly. Alternatively, you could do an evening tour and see the signs illuminated under the night sky. Whichever tour you go for, I can guarantee that lead paint has never looked this good!
The Neon Museum
770 Las Vegas Boulevard North
Las Vegas, NV 89101
