National Neon Sign Museum

Introduction

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The National Neon Sign Museum houses one of the world’s largest collections of neon signs. The collection reflects American history through the evolution of signs and advertising. Highlights include the animated and figural ‘Dog n’ Suds’ sign, Howard Johnson’s ‘Simple Simon’ sign, and rare West Coast petroleum signs. The museum opened in 2018 and is housed in the historic former Elks Lodge building, which was erected in 1910. The Elks, which is a fraternal organization officially called the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, occupied the building for several decades at least through the 1980s. The building is also significant for its Colonial architecture. Notable features include large Ionic columns supporting a pediment and balcony, and four pilasters (columns) with Ionic capitals on each corner. The building is also known for its unique spring-loaded hardwood floor in the ballroom.

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The National Neon Sign Museum features one the largest neon sign collections in the world. The museum is located in the historic 1910 Elks Lodge building.

Backstory and Context

Text-to-speech Audio

The Elks Lodge was established in 1895 in the town of Cascade Locks and relocated to The Dalles the next year. It is not known why they made the move or where they first met, but the Elks bought the property on which the building now stands in 1908. Two houses and a meat market that were already there were torn down to make way for the new structure. When completed, the lodge boasted a basement pool and showers, a smoking room, reading room, billiard room, kitchen, ballroom, and bedrooms on the third floor. In 1922, the lodge had 1,000 members.

The owner of the museum, David Benko, acquired the old building in 2015. Coming from a family of collectors, Benko started collecting comic books when he was 8 and then glass insulators when he was 10. He got his first neon sign in college and learned how to make and repair them in the late 1980s. In 1994 he opened up a neon sign shop (with an attached mock gas station, diner, and dairy) in Camas, Washington. After trying for around a decade to open a museum in Vancouver, Washington, Benko learned of the Elks Lodge building in 2015. It took him the next couple of years to renovate and convert the building into a museum. The old building is a contributing property of The Dalles Commercial Historic District, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.

Sources

Dodds, Linda et al. "The Dalles Commercial Historic District." National Park Service - National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form. November 4, 1986. https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NRHP/86002953_text.

"Elks Lodge." The Historical Marker Database. Accessed August 21, 2020. https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=112019.

Guilfoil, Michael. "The Dalles up in lights: National Neon Sign Museum brightens up the Columbia River Gorge." The Spokesman-Review. April 15, 2018. https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2018/apr/15/the-dalles-up-in-lights-national-neon-sign-museum-/.

"National Neon Sign Museum." Northwest Travel Magazine. Accessed August 21, 2020. https://nwtravelmag.com/national-neon-sign-museum.

Image Sources(Click to expand)

The Historical Marker Database

Additional Information