Las Vegas
Retro Road Tripping Through Sin City
By Ken MacIntyre (July 19, 2024) – Las Vegas is famous for reinventing itself. It’s also a city whose midcentury iconography is everywhere (but disappearing) and could easily take days to explore. If you’ve only got a couple of nights in town, though, here’s a quick and dirty Modtraveler guide to the marvelous modernist excess built on the hopes and dreams of those who helped shape Sin City in the Post-War years.
The Former Frontier Fidelity Savings building, 1962
OUT OF THE PAST
Architecture aficionados love Googie and fortunately some outstanding examples still stand. Located on Boulder Hwy, the former Pete Findlay automobile dealership (pictured above) from 1963 is exceptional for its cantilevered folded-plate roof, natural stone detailing, and walls and walls of glass. For fans of breeze blocks, the former Frontier Fidelity Savings building on Charleston Blvd, built in 1962, doesn’t disappoint. On the Strip, the Guardian Angel Cathedral still turns heads more than sixty years after architect Paul R. Williams designed it. Be sure to check out its gambling-themed stained glass created by artists Isabel and Edith Piczek. Williams also designed the eye-catching La Concha Motel lobby which opened in 1961. The motel closed years ago but the lobby building – comprised of intersecting hyperbolic paraboloids – was repurposed and now serves as the gateway to the Neon Museum as well as its visitors center.
LET THERE BE LIGHT
Vintage Neon on the Las Vegas Strip
Las Vegas is famous for its shimmering lights and vintage neon signs, much of which is displayed at the aforementioned Neon Museum, but if you want to save on admission there are dozens of neon signs from the 1950s and 1960s on display throughout the city. The Las Vegas Boulevard National Scenic Byway is filled with a mix of historic and modern architecture as well as an abundance of restored neon signs from motels and small businesses. Fremont Street is another great destination for sign hunters seeking to discover overlooked midcentury treasures.
FOOD & DRINK
A visit to vintage Vegas wouldn’t be complete without dining at Rat Pack haunts like the Golden Steer, the city’s longest continually operating Steakhouse since 1958. The Peppermill Restaurant and Fireside Lounge is also a must if you’re into unabashed 1970s kitsch. This original 24-hour coffee shop & ultra lounge has been serving up huge portions and stiff drinks for over 50 years. More stiff drinks can be found at the oldest freestanding bar in town, Atomic Liquors on Fremont Street, since 1952. For fans of Tiki, don’t miss Frankie’s Tiki Room. Housed in original 1950s staple Frankie’s Bar, this colorful watering hole was re-imagined by designer Bamboo Ben and boasts island-themed art and rum-soaked tropical drinks. Similarly, the Golden Tiki has been transporting guests out of its Chinatown strip mall location back in time to a Pirates of the Caribbean-like Post-War cocktail lounge where Mai Tais are de rigueur!
Vintage finds at the El Dorado Canyon Mine Tours
VENTURING NEARBY
If abandoned buildings, forgotten relics and more vintage signs are your thing, then venture an hour off the Strip to the El Dorado Canyon Mine Tours at the historic Techatticup Mine. The most famous [former] gold mine in Southern Nevada is now a must-see for photo shoots, movie backdrops and even wedding chapel rentals. Further West, an hour or so down Interstate 15 from Las Vegas, are the abandoned Hi-Lo Gas Station and Restaurant, which have become mandatory stops for retro photographers passing through Halloran Springs, California in the Mojave Desert.
For more vintage Las Vegas options, check out the Las Vegas section of Modtraveler.net and follow us at Instagram @modtraveler
Halloran Springs, California