Celebrating 10 years of The Mob Museum Marking a major milestone in Downtown Las Vegas
By Yvonne Newman
Tourists haven’t been the only ones championing it, as locals love this interactive attraction, too. Everyone has made The Mob Museum their own, coming back time and again to immerse themselves in the true stories of organized crime in America and how it’s combated. “More than 3 million guests have visited the museum and experienced our diverse exhibits and programs, all designed to advance the public’s understanding of organized crime’s history and impact on American society,” said Jonathan Ullman, president and CEO of The Mob Museum. Over the past decade, The Mob Museum garnered loads of accolades, including being named one of National Geographic’s Top 10 Things to Do in Las 28
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Vegas and USA Today’s Best Museum in Nevada, while The New York Times also called it “a must for travelers.” The idea for The Mob Museum originated with former Mayor Oscar Goodman, who began his career as a defense attorney for notorious figures like Meyer Lansky and Tony Spilotro. Housed in a landmark building at 300 Stewart Avenue that originally opened in 1933 as a post office and federal courthouse, it contains three floors and a basement densely packed with artifacts, videos and multimedia exhibits. The Mob Museum launch coincided with the anniversary of the 1929 St. Valentine’s Day Massacre. Among its original permanent exhibits is the brick wall that absorbed the bullets aimed at seven mobsters believed to have been lined up and shot dead by Al Capone’s Chicago outfit as well as a series of photos displaying “Made Men” in mafia history, wiretap recordings and much more.
Photos courtesy of The Mob Museum
As soon as The Mob Museum, The National Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement opened on February 14, 2012, no trip to the Entertainment Capital of the World was complete without a visit.
