Pony Express Motel Sign

St. Joseph, Missouri

Built in 1955, the Pony Express Motel sign with its galloping neon rider welcomed travelers driving south into St. Joseph from places such as Council Bluffs and Nebraska City. In 2007 the motel was torn down to build a franchise restaurant, and the new property owners tried to sell the sign on eBay. Civic leaders convinced the owners to instead donate it to the Pony Express National Museum in town, which spent about $22,000 to restore and move the sign about four miles to a small park behind the old Pony Express stables. Its neon rider, with much fanfare, was turned on again at dusk on October 11, 2008.

At the time it was noted that the Pony Express Motel sign had found an ideal home, as the stables had been a kind of 19th century motel for Pony Express horses.