Hacienda Horse and Rider

The Hacienda opened at the far south end of the Strip in 1956, a ranch-themed resort on the site where Mandalay Bay stands today. Its best-known sign, a cowboy on a rearing horse, was made by the Young Electric Sign Company in 1967. The Neon Museum says it was commissioned by Judy Bayley, who ran the resort after her husband, Warren 'Doc' Bayley, died in 1964.

The Hacienda closed on December 1, 1996 and was imploded on New Year's Eve that year, on live television. By then the horse and rider had already been saved. It became the Neon Museum's first project: refurbished for about $60,000 and relit on November 13, 1996, at the corner of Las Vegas Boulevard and Fremont Street.

The museum behind that relighting had been years in the making. A group of local arts advocates had been working toward a home for old signs since the late 1980s, and in September 1996 the Las Vegas City Council approved $150,000 in redevelopment money to establish the museum. The horse and rider was its first public result, two months later, and for several years it was the most visible proof that the project existed. The museum would not open its Boneyard to the general public until 2012, sixteen years later.

That makes it a good starting point for a neon walk. It is the sign that turned a group of collectors into a museum, and it set the pattern that followed: rather than keep every restored sign behind a fence, the museum placed several along Las Vegas Boulevard where anyone driving or walking by can see them lit.

The sign was made to be read from a car on the old highway, so it works best from a little distance: stand back on the sidewalk and the horse and rider resolve into one bold silhouette.

The rider has been known to get seasonal makeovers, such as a headless horseman look for Halloween, so do not be surprised if he looks different on your visit. The intersection is busy, with traffic coming off the Boulevard, so use the crosswalks and take your photos from the corners.