For the love of Branson: Neon Branson

Billy Joel sang about the lights going out on Broadway and Reba told us about the night the lights went out in Georgia. Fast forward a generation to the Branson Boom of the 1990s and the saying went “would the last person leaving Nashville for Branson, please turn out the lights.” But the truth is, the lights of the famous Highway 76 strip have never gone out.

Originally, the strip was just a wooded stretch of road from downtown leading all the way to Silver Dollar City. And the only lights that illuminated this primary Branson thoroughfare at the time were God’s twinkling stars. But the stars eventually dimmed due to the neon lights of Chisai Child’s Starlite Theatre and the moonlight was replaced by the glow of the Andy Williams Moon River music venue.

However, when you talk about stars, it wasn’t the ones in the sky but instead the superstars on our stages that changed the trajectory of this town forever. The spotlights, the neon marquees and the world famous Christmas lights lit up the community like the Ozarks had never seen before.

One of the most iconic of those neon marquees being the 40-foot-tall Jim Stafford guitar neck that rose prominently above his theatre. It was described at one time as the crown jewel of Branson and was featured in nearly every nationally circulated image of our tourist community. The marquee became so well known that when they announced the demolition of the theatre in 2021, I knew something had to be done to save it. With the fundraising help of some of our fellow community members – a former intern of Jim Stafford’s, Matt Bailey, and myself bid on the giant neon sign and won it at auction. However, that was only half the battle.

The months following the purchase of the sign presented a Herculean task. How do we go about removing it from the building before they demolish it? Eventually, after searching far and wide for a company who could do it, we found a crane outfit out of Joplin with a hundred-and-ninety-foot rig. But when it was finally on the ground, it needed a home.

The inspiration for its eventual home came from a place known as the Neon Sign Museum in Las Vegas, Nevada. So, the idea was that we would build our own sign backlot with old marquees from the Branson strip and beyond. We now have upwards of three dozen old signs with no interest in slowing down any time soon.

But while we are so excited to share our museum with the world (located at Coffelt Country on 165) an article about the lights of Branson would be incomplete without paying tribute to the illumination of our town during Christmas time. That once modest theme park at the end of Highway 76 now displays 6.5 million Christmas lights during their holiday celebration. While that is an incredible feat, we are most proud of the light displays that highlight the reason for the season. And you can’t fill out your Branson bucket list without venturing downtown to gaze at the nativity scene on Mount Branson. After all, God said “let there be light” and Branson obliged.