Location: Las Vegas, Nevada
Client: City of Las Vegas

TEC cultural resources staff documented and evaluated approximately 135 signs at The Neon Museum in Las Vegas, Nevada, under a grant administered by the City of Las Vegas. Fifteen of these signs were located in a public exhibit in downtown Las Vegas, while the majority of the signs surveyed are housed in the Neon Museum’s two Boneyards, which are outdoor repositories for the museum’s collection of retired commercial signs that once resided in the Las Vegas Valley. The signs date from the late 1940s through the present, and their typology ranges from landmark casino signage to signs associated with local businesses, such as motels or restaurants. Survey methodology included physical descriptions, gross dimensions, and condition assessments of each sign; historical/origin research, including the sign’s original location and placement; and archival black-and-white photography and digital photo-documentation. Evaluations of historic eligibility were made according to National Register of Historic Places criteria that were adapted to a new type of Nevada Historic Resource Inventory Form tailored for the survey and evaluation of signs. These evaluations were informed by a historic context of neon lighting, sign technology, and the history of commercial neon signage in Las Vegas, prepared by TEC as part of this project.

TEC also prepared a print-ready museum catalog for the Neon Museum, consisting of an illustrated historic context and catalog of 25 of the most significant signs in the museum’s collection.