Question of the Day - 21 May 2012

This is an interesting question, and with all that's been written about the sign, since it was first installed in 1959, we thought it would be straightforward locating the answer. Wrong!

While numerous sites we came across referenced how the sign has apparently "moved several times" since it was first installed, none of them offered any information as to where it was originally placed, nor when or to where it was moved. For example, here's an excerpt from a recent article in the L.A. Times. "In time, the sign became somewhat of a problem child for Las Vegas civic fathers, enduring more than one demolition attempt to make way for a more modern roadside greeting. The sign has been moved several times, deployed farther and farther south to remain on the outskirts of the latest casino development." Okay, but where are the details?!

Finally, we placed a call to the Neon Museum downtown, and spoke with a helpful member of staff who had previously been a Las Vegas tour guide. His recollection was that the sign was originally located close to Tropicana Avenue, but that when the Hacienda was built further south, the sign was moved so that it was still encountered before the first hotel (now Mandalay Bay, built on the site of the Hacienda).

However, they broke ground on the Hacienda in '55, with the casino finally opening in '57, i.e., two years before the Las Vegas sign was installed, so this timeline doesn't make sense. The Tropicana opened in '57, but construction was already underway on the Hacienda, located a mile south of the nearest casino at that time, which was the Flamingo, so why would the sign have been originally located anywhere but to south of the Hacienda site? It makes us wonder whether the sign did actually ever move, or if it's just an urban myth dreamt up by people assuming it must have moved, seeing as the city has expanded so fast. From the earliest image we have of the famous sign, it's impossible to judge where it's located, since there's really nothing, especially any surviving landmark, anywhere near it.

If anyone out there can shed any additional light on this mystery, we'd love to hear from you. Below is the earliest photograph we've seen of the sign, taken in the 1960s. With no landmarks in the vicinity, it's really hard to gauge the location.

Thanks to a couple of readers who've written in to confirm our suspicions that the movement of the famous "Welcome" sign may in fact be an urban myth that's grown up out of people's assumptions that it must have moved, following the city's rapid expansion. Instead, it makes sense that it was originally placed so far south, that nothing significant has yet to be built beyond it on the Strip (no offence to Silverton, South Point, or M -- they're all beyond the official limit of the Strip).

• "The sign is basically in the same place as it was originally except for the expansion of Hwy 91 (2 lanes) to the several lanes that it is now. It was placed to welcome visitors coming out of the old Airport on Hwy 91. The Hacienda Hotel was built and so was the Tropicana when the sign was installed. I was born here - 1941 - with 4 generations before me. My Dad moved the Little Church of the West from the Last Frontier to the Hacienda Hotel on his Lowbed and Mac truck. I have photos of the little Church on the truck. 1954. Sometimes you need to talk to the people who have lived here –- for a long time!
• "Hello! I do not believe the sign has moved. Another historical reference you can refer to is the old Klondike Casino which was near the sign. In the mid '70s power service to the sign lapsed following an ownership dispute over the sign between municipalities. John Woodrum, the Klondike Casino owner, reconnected electricity to the sign until 1976 when the county resumed payments (and ownership). I really enjoy your articles and the efforts you put forth. " [Ed: Thanks, and yes, we've actually written about this before. You're half-correct: It was Woodrum who was responsible for running a power cable to the sign and lighting it up, some time in the mid '70s -- he bought the Klondike in '76. It had previously been lit up, but had been dark for some years by then. The incident you refer to about the sign going dark for non-payment of the power bill, however, actually took place in 1999. See QoD 11/30/2008. Here's an excerpt from an interview with Woodrum conducted shortly before the Klondike closed, in June 2006: Thirty years ago the Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign was out of juice - no power, and thus, no light emanated from the famous landmark welcoming visitors to the Strip. The sign had been dark for two or three years, at least, so John Woodrum did something about it. "I ran a (power) line to the sign and fired it up," Woodrum said. "It started running then. But someone cut the line - the County Commission didn't like the line running from my place to the sign. There was a big dispute about who would pay for the power to the sign and the meter had been turned off. So I said, 'I'll keep the sign lit and I'll pay the power bill.' " The dispute has since been settled and the county pays to keep the sign lighted.]