Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas Sign

The year 1959 was very important to Las Vegas: For one thing, the Nevada Gaming Commission came into being, leading to a cleanup of organized crime from gambling activities. But perhaps most important, the world-famous "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign went up at the south end of Las Vegas Boulevard. Pioneer commercial designer Betty Willis created the sign in lights and neon. The backgrounds of the “Welcome” letters are silver dollars. The famous sign has had to move farther south a few times in fifty years, in recognition of Las Vegas' growth. It is presently in the central median near the Klondike Hotel & Casino (now closed). As you leave the Strip headed south, the sign says on the back, “Drive Carefully -- Come Back Soon.”

At the north end of Las Vegas Boulevard South, as one crosses from Clark County into the city of Las Vegas proper, a newer sign in the same style says, “Welcome to Fabulous Downtown Las Vegas.” A third version, also like the original, but larger, is on Harmon Avenue and Boulder Highway, to greet visitors arriving from the north.