Returning to the Scene of the Crime: Visiting the Mob Museum Again

February 18, 2026, Leave a Comment on Returning to the Scene of the Crime: Visiting the Mob Museum Again

While in Vegas, my friend Cristal and I went to a few other museums, including the Mob Museum, which I had been to previously, but it had been awhile, so I was happy to go back. Las Vegas and the mob basically go hand-in-hand. Housed perfectly in the city’s first federal courthouse, built in 1933, the museum takes visitors through the early wild west days of Las Vegas, prohibition, and links the various mob groups from the east coast, Chicago, the west coast, and of course Las Vegas, while also showcasing the law enforcement side of things. And because of the mob’s connection to Vegas’ iconic casinos, there are plenty of amazing vintage casino treasures!

As the mob was involved in the creation and transport of illegal booze during prohibition, items from the prohibition movement were on display, including this souvenir hatchet made by the Art Stove Company, with the image of Carrie Nation on it. Nation was a formidable woman who took to terrorizing saloons and bars with a hatchet. You can read more about her in this blog post I wrote after I found one of her souvenir hatchet brooches.

The most famous mob names can be found throughout the museum, with dozens of artifacts once owned by them, including a gun once used by Al Capone, sunglasses worn by Bugsy Siegel, a wanted poster for his girlfriend, Meyer Lansky’s passport, and a suit worn by LA’s own Mickey Cohen.

But really my favorite items are the vintage goodies from the heyday of Las Vegas casinos. I loved all of the different themes casinos went for, from the western tropes to the French inspired Moulin Rouge (Vegas’ first integrated casino, which you can read more about in this post) to the flamboyant Flamingo. I also loved the old chips in concrete. When casinos retired chips, they were typically disposed of in three different methods; tossed in nearby Lake Mead, cast in concrete to render them useless, or for the more superstitious, used in the foundation of new casinos because they were thought to bring good luck.

During our visit there was a small room dedicated to the many movies that have filmed in Vegas, with a collection of movie posters and lobby cards, in addition to screening clips from those films.

The Mob Museum is located at 300 Stewart Ave., near Fremont Street. For more information on hours, tickets, and current exhibits, visit the Mob Museum’s website.