Las Vegas Motels

 February 2025 - Las Vegas NV

If you had driven from Los Angeles to Las Vegas in the middle of the 20th century, you would have spent several hours on some very dusty desert roads, past cacti and shaggy yucca trees, maybe a coyote howling beneath a sky pricked with stars.

Along that route, and inside the Vegas city limits, a motel sign had a tough job to do. It had to catch drivers’ eyes during the day, and be equally or even more inviting against an inky sky. In a flat, dry sea of boxy, nondescript buildings, signage was what differentiated one low-slung pitstop from another—and to make a sign pop, many mid-20th-century motels leaned on bright, buzzing neon. Those signs have since become as synonymous with the city as gambling, magic shows, and sin.

I wrote a post in February 2015 about the old neon motel signs we found.

Some of those motels have been torn down but their signs have been rejuvenated and installed along Las Vegas Blvd.

The Par-A-Dice Motel sign was placed just north of Oakey Boulevard on Las Vegas Boulevard. The sign was originally located at 2217 Fremont St., for a motel that opened its doors in 1953.

I have the original motel sign in my 2015 post.

Other signs installed include:

Apache Motel, 1965, north of Bridger Avenue;

Golden Inn Motel, 1960, south of Bridger;

Clark Inn, 1962, north of Clark Avenue;

Lone Palm Motel, 1954, north of Garces Avenue;

Domino Motel, 1960s, north of Hoover Avenue; missed it!!

Fun City Motel, 1952,  south of Charleston Boulevard; and

Rummel Motel, 1968,  south of Oakey.

Another now-defunct Strip motel, the Normandie, claimed “ELVIS SLEPT HERE” on its Betty Willis-designed neon sign. More Betty Willis here.

I mentioned the Ferguson in my 2015 post. We came across it in 2025.

Moving into North Las Vegas.

2018 reference to Jerry's at the Neon Museum.

2025 reference at the Neon Museum.

In 1964, brothers-in-laws, Jerry Stamis and Jerry Lodge decided to enter the casino business together in Las Vegas. The two bought the property called the Town House Bar and renamed the joint, Jerry's Nugget Casino.

Knotty Pine built in 1936.

Mentioned in my 2015 post. It is now closed.

Branding Iron built in 1954.

Built in 1963.

On Charleston.

The 15-foot iconic statue dates back to 1957 and The Blue Angel Motel. It was created by famous Las Vegan Betty Willis, who also designed the Welcome To Las Vegas sign in the 1950s. 

The motel was demolished in 2015, but the neon sign and statue remained untouched until they were removed for refurbishment in 2017. In March 2020, The Blue Angel was officially returned to the neighborhood that she reigned over for more than 60 years.

Also seen in 2015.

Built in 1951 closed in 2012.

Also saw in 2015.