Las Vegas
Step back in time at the Neon Museum’s Boneyard
By Ken MacIntyre
June 30, 2025 (Las Vegas) – Currently pulling double duty as a visitors center and the gateway through which guests can enter the Neon Museum’s vintage sign boneyard, the La Concha Visitors Center started out in 1961 as the lobby building to the La Concha Motel, designed by acclaimed architect Paul R. Williams.
Its unique design stood out on the Las Vegas Strip during the 1960s-1990s where it sat next to the Riviera Hotel & Casino (since demolished) and the Peppermill Restaurant & Fireside Lounge (still there!), as a striking example of Googie architecture. Intersecting hyperbolic paraboloids tend to have that effect.
Saved from the wrecking ball in 2005 and later moved in pieces to its current location at 770 Las Vegas Boulevard North, where it was reassembled, the La Concha Motel lobby has been revitalized as a busy center that sells all sorts of awesome Las Vegas memorabilia and welcomes visitors to the equally awesome open-air Neon Museum, known affectionately as the Boneyard.
It’s here where visitors can get an informative docent guided (or self-guided) tour of the many historic neon and electric signs that used to populate The Strip back in the 1950s-70s. From the twinkling Stardust Casino sign to the original Saraha Hotel sign, and countless others.
Filled with over 250 iconic atomic-age signs, some even dating back to the 1930s, the boneyard used to be where Las Vegas neon history went to die. But due to popular demand, the old signs (collected over the years) were relocated from manufacturer YESCO’s production lot to their current location over twenty years ago and officially opened to the public in 2012, where they’ve been a big hit with locals and visitors ever since.
The Neon Museum’s mission includes restoring and preserving these historic signs in order to draw attention to their artistic merit and historical significance. As part of the “Las Vegas Boulevard Scenic Byway Project,” several of the museum’s signs are also displayed as public art throughout downtown, for all to enjoy. In fact, the Museum has so many un-displayed signs in storage they are planning a relocation and expansion into the Arts District for 2027, where hopefully much more of their collection will be unveiled for the first time in decades.
Until then, book a tour next time you’re in Las Vegas by visiting their website at NeonMuseum.org.
