Neon Museum

The Neon Museum is an open-air museum in Las Vegas, Nevada, dedicated to preserving and exhibiting historic neon signage from the city's casinos, hotels, and businesses. Established in 1996, the museum holds more than 200 signs across its 2.27-acre (0.92 ha) site, known as the Neon Boneyard. Its collection represents a distinctive form of American commercial art and serves as a tangible archive of Las Vegas's visual culture from the 1920s onward. The museum's holdings include signs manufactured by the Young Electric Sign Company (YESCO), which dominated neon production in the city for decades. In 2024, the museum announced plans to relocate to a larger site, with several locations under consideration as of 2025.

Efforts to establish a neon sign museum began in the late 1980s but stalled due to lack of resources. The catalyst for preservation came in 1981, when the Sands Hotel and Casino demolished its original neon sign during renovations, prompting calls to save such artifacts. In 1989, the Allied Arts Council of Southern Nevada, led by director Patrick Gaffey, began developing a project then called Neon Park, with the 5th Street Liquor Store sign as its first acquisition. The group stored signs in the Nevada desert and at YESCO's facility, but struggled with financing. In 1994, the Southern Nevada Cultural Arts Foundation proposed a competing museum, though this also stalled. Las Vegas mayor Jan Jones supported the concept and in 1995 recruited city employee Barbara Molasky to advance it. On September 18, 1996, the Las Vegas City Council approved $150,000 in redevelopment funds to establish the Neon Museum. The organization was incorporated as a nonprofit in 1997, with Molasky as founding president. Initially lacking a physical facility, the museum focused on reinstalling signs in downtown Las Vegas. In 2000, the city granted land near Cashman Field for storage, and the Neon Boneyard opened for appointment-only tours in 2001. The lobby of the former La Concha Motel was donated to the museum in 2005, moved 6.4 km north along Las Vegas Boulevard, and after being cut into eight pieces and reassembled, became the visitor center. Construction to convert the lobby began in May 2011, and the museum opened to the general public on October 27, 2012, eliminating the appointment system. An expansion began in 2017, though space limitations continued to require off-site storage for hundreds of artifacts. In 2024, the museum announced plans to relocate to a larger site.

The Neon Museum's collection encompasses more than 200 signs from old casinos, hotels, and other businesses, displayed outdoors across 2.27 acres. The signs represent decades of Las Vegas commercial history, with many manufactured by YESCO. Each restored sign in the collection is accompanied by a biography of its creator and an explanation of its significance. The museum also holds fiberglass sculptures, including a giant skull from the Treasure Island Hotel and Casino. Due to space constraints, hundreds of neon artifacts have remained in off-site storage. Restoration costs range from approximately $10,000 for smaller pieces to $100,000 for larger signs. The collection's scope extends beyond the Boneyard itself, with restored signs installed in downtown Las Vegas and along the Las Vegas Strip.

The museum's first project was the restoration and reinstallation of the Hacienda resort's Horse and Rider sign, a cowboy-on-horseback neon piece that had sat in storage for years. Refurbished at a cost of $60,000, it was lit on November 13, 1996, at the intersection of North Las Vegas Boulevard and Fremont Street. The Silver Slipper sign was restored and installed opposite the visitor center in November 2009. The Neon Boneyard Park, installed in 2012, features the word NEON spelled with letters from iconic signs: the N from the Golden Nugget, the E from Caesars Palace, the O from Binion's Horseshoe, and the N from the Desert Inn. These letters sit on a grid inspired by the Sands sign, with stars resembling those from the Stardust and a star similar to that on Betty Willis's Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign. Other notable Boneyard pieces include signs from the Stardust, Riviera, Desert Inn, and Caesars Palace. The original 80-foot Sahara hotel sign was donated to the museum on January 24, 2006. In 2018, the museum launched Brilliant!, a thirty-minute nighttime show designed by Craig Winslow that uses projectors to reanimate non-functioning signs with vintage and contemporary music.

The museum's core site, the Neon Boneyard, occupies 2.27 acres on North Las Vegas Boulevard near Cashman Field, north of Fremont Street, on land leased to the museum for $1 per year. The original site was 0.66 acres, with adjacent land to the south added later. The visitor center is housed in the former lobby of the La Concha Motel, a distinctive building originally located on the Las Vegas Strip. Donated in 2005 and moved to the museum site in pieces, the lobby was reassembled after being cut into eight sections. Its relocation and restoration cost nearly $3 million, and the donation helped catalyze the museum's capital campaign. In total, approximately $6.5 million was raised for the visitor center, headquarters, a new park, and restoration of fifteen major signs. The Boneyard itself is not open to the public without appointment, with guided tours bookable through the museum's website.

The Neon Museum is located in Las Vegas, Nevada, and operates as an independent nonprofit organization. It is situated on North Las Vegas Boulevard, with its visitor center in the relocated La Concha Motel lobby. After opening by appointment only in 2001, the museum began public paid admission on October 27, 2012. First-year attendance reached 60,461 visitors, exceeding initial projections of 45,000 to 50,000. During the appointment-only period, annual visitation was approximately 12,000 to 20,000. The museum offered free admission on October 28, 2017, for its fifth anniversary. Tours of the Boneyard are available by guided appointment, bookable through the museum's website at neonmuseum.org. The museum continues to expand its public programming, including the nighttime Brilliant! show launched in 2018. As of 2025, the museum is considering relocation to a larger site to accommodate more of its collection.