Crime Memorabilia on Display as LA Mob Museum Opens

The Mob Museum, the National Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement in downtown Las Vegas, opens on Feb 14, 2012. The museum, which is claimed to be a world-class destination, will showcase an exciting and authentic view of the mob's impact on Las Vegas history and its unique imprint on the world.  

The Museum reveals an insider's look at the events and people on both sides of this continuing battle. True stories of mob history are brought to life in the museum. The Mob Museum projects the action through high-tech theater presentations, iconic one-of-a-kind artifacts and interactive, themed environments.

The Museum has showcased some of the most enduring artifacts in mob history including the brick wall from the St Valentine's Day Massacre and the barber chair on which Albert Anastasia was murdered. The opening date is the 83rd anniversary of the infamous massacre, considered one of the most significant days in mob history on which seven men affiliated with the Bugs Moran gang were murdered by the South Side Italian gang led by Al Capone.

Let's take a journey through the museum here:

The Mob Museum

A look at “old” mobsters when they retire, go into exile, enter the witness protection program or die.

The development of the interpretive timeline is integral to the success of the experience of the new Mob Museum.

A key Mob Museum visionary is board member and previous Las Vegas Mayor Oscar B. Goodman, who once made a name for himself representing such reputed mobsters as Meyer Lansky, Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal, and Anthony Spilotro among others.

On Nov. 15, 1950, the U.S. Senate Special Committee to Investigate Organized Crime in Interstate Commerce, led by U.S. Senator Estes Kefauver (Democrat-Tennessee), held the seventh in a series of 14 nationwide hearings in Las Vegas. The historic hearing took place in the courtroom of the city’s first federal building – the very courtroom that is being restored as the centerpiece of The Mob Museum.

The barber chair where Albert Anastasia was sitting when he was murdered in New York City on October 25, 1957. Anastasia – aka “Lord High Executioner” –was then boss of the Gambino crime family, which operated a gang of hit men and contract killers known as Murder, Inc.

The Sporting Life

Spinning a Deadly Web

Tools of the Trade

Guns, weapons, customized jewelry, personal belongings and hundreds of photographs are among the many other artifacts housed within The Museum.