The history of American gangsters is fantastically outlined, told and experienced at the new Las Vegas Mob Museum. Appealing to tourists who want to get away for more than gambling and partying, Las Vegas’ newest high-tech experiential museum is part theme park, part history book and part pop-culture shrine. With stunning interactive displays, the museum explores the discordant relationship between organized crime and American law enforcement while uncovering the history of what made the mob the mob. Discover a part of American history where the truth is always shifting. On your next Las Vegas holiday, step away from the casino and walk through the business of organised crime.
How It Happened
Located in downtown Las Vegas, the Mob Museum (also known as the National Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement) opened its doors to the public on Feb. 14, 2012. Housed in the former Las Vegas Post Office and Courthouse, the building itself was already listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places — and it’s just two blocks off the main downtown casino area.
Developed under the creative direction of the same man who created the International Spy Museum and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the museum exists to explore the relationship — complex, conflicted and controversial — between organised crime and law enforcement in Las Vegas and in the broader United States. With exhibits on violence, casino scams and wiretapping, the Mob Museum pulls the shadowy operations of the mob — and the sometimes shadowy operations of American law enforcement — into the daylight.
It was in 2000 that the U.S. government sold the former courthouse and post office to the city of Las Vegas for a dollar with the stipulation the building be restored to its original glory and that upon renovation, it be used for cultural purposes. The mayor at the time, Oscar Goodman, came up with the idea for a mob museum, and why wouldn’t he have? He was a former defence lawyer for the mob in and around Las Vegas before he held public office.
What It’s Like
Because it’s an old relic of the justice system, the Mob Museum takes the process of justice as its starting point for the museum’s experience. After visitors arrive, they take an elevator to the third floor, where they begin the process of “being processed” by the American criminal justice system by taking part in a line-up where they are photographed as so many other people — both the innocent and the guilty — have been over the years. Other interactive, mini-exhibits follow that one. Visitors can pull the trigger of an old school, real-life Tommy gun — it’s incredibly loud. There is also an old-fashioned slot machine from days of Vegas yore. Guests can give it a pull, and see if what might have been won in another lifetime. There’s even a replica of an electric chair for visitors to seat themselves in if pondering mortality is on their Vegas itinerary.
With almost 1600 square metres of exhibit space, the museum is as entertaining as it is rich in history. While many exhibits showcase mob power and allure, the museum also tells the story of how organised crime influenced Las Vegas and its inhabitants. This last bit is especially noteworthy given the mob’s role in expanding industries like gambling, alcohol and prostitution. To tell the story of the mob in Las Vegas is to tell the story of the mob in America.
The history told and shown throughout the museum is fascinating. Born out of East Coast immigrant communities, organised crime hit its stride in America’s attempts at Prohibition (the illegal sale and consumption of alcohol) in the 1920s. Prohibition provided an unparalleled way to expand and make money. As competing faction arose throughout that time, stunning displays of violence erupted throughout American cities. One of the most impressive exhibits at the Mob Museum is from one of these eruptions. The 1929 St. Valentine’s Day Massacre that saw seven mobsters shot and killed in Chicago was the result of turf wars. The blood-spattered wall from that day of violence is now on display at Las Vegas’ Mob Museum.
Las Vegas is a city built on the “sins” that made mobsters rich and powerful in the United States. Discover how it happened — and why — in between a trip to the blackjack table and another sip of booze at The Mob Museum.
About the Author: Candace Pratt is a contributing writer who fell in love with stories of Al Capone as a child. She lives in Liverpool but has travelled to America several times. Image by The-Lane-Team from Flickr’s Creative Commons.
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