California Is Home To The World's Largest Pinball Museum

You can play over 1,000 vintage and modern arcade games—including some dating back to the 1800s—at the Museum of Pinball.

Overshadowed by online gaming, the flashing lights and dinging bells of pinball machines are quickly becoming relics of another time. But one man in California is trying to preserve the game (or sport, as he likes to call it) in the form of the 40,000-square-foot Museum of Pinball.

“A lot of people go ‘I don’t want you to touch my machine,’ but I want to share,” John Weeks, who founded the museum, told the Los Angeles Daily News.

The Museum of Pinball is home to over 1,000 arcade games

Once an arcade owner himself, Weeks started collecting pinball machines in the ’90s. Now, the Museum of Pinball contains more than 1,000 vintage and modern arcade games, including over 600 pinball machines. Among the collection are a few games dating back to 1855 and novelty items like Hercules, a jumbo machine that uses cue balls instead of pinballs.

To house his behemoth collection, Weeks needed an equally large space. So, he found a warehouse once used for aerospace manufacturing, in Banning, California, located about an hour from Los Angeles and 20 minutes from Palm Springs.

The building can handle up to 480 volts of electricity—ideal for powering hundreds of arcade games. “It’s hard to find a building that has this much power to control all these machines,” Weeks told the Desert Sun.

The Museum of Pinball is located in Banning, California

Due to a number of factors, including the cost of electricity and the museum’s off-the-beaten-path location, it is only open to the public for special events, several times a year. One of their biggest recurring events is Arcade Expo, which also includes a professional pinball tournament. “We want people who grew up playing pinball to rediscover their passion for the game…or what we like to call a ‘sport,'” the website states. “We want to help bring competitive pinball tournaments into the spotlight.”

At the 2015 Arcade Expo, the museum won a Guinness World Record for the most people (331) playing pinball simultaneously. It’s a registered non-profit so all of the proceeds from events go to different charities.

The Museum of Pinball is only open to the public a few times a year for big events

The museum currently occupies a tiny slice of the 18 acres that Weeks owns, and when he can expand, he hopes to create a retro trailer hotel. The hotel will have 20 vintage RVs, each refurbished and uniquely decorated.

In the meantime, check out the museum’s website for information on when it will next be open to the public.

Since you are here, we would like to share our vision for the future of travel - and the direction Culture Trip is moving in.

Culture Trip launched in 2011 with a simple yet passionate mission: to inspire people to go beyond their boundaries and experience what makes a place, its people and its culture special and meaningful — and this is still in our DNA today. We are proud that, for more than a decade, millions like you have trusted our award-winning recommendations by people who deeply understand what makes certain places and communities so special.

Increasingly we believe the world needs more meaningful, real-life connections between curious travellers keen to explore the world in a more responsible way. That is why we have intensively curated a collection of premium small-group trips as an invitation to meet and connect with new, like-minded people for once-in-a-lifetime experiences in three categories: Culture Trips, Rail Trips and Private Trips. Our Trips are suitable for both solo travelers, couples and friends who want to explore the world together.

Culture Trips are deeply immersive 5 to 16 days itineraries, that combine authentic local experiences, exciting activities and 4-5* accommodation to look forward to at the end of each day. Our Rail Trips are our most planet-friendly itineraries that invite you to take the scenic route, relax whilst getting under the skin of a destination. Our Private Trips are fully tailored itineraries, curated by our Travel Experts specifically for you, your friends or your family.

We know that many of you worry about the environmental impact of travel and are looking for ways of expanding horizons in ways that do minimal harm - and may even bring benefits. We are committed to go as far as possible in curating our trips with care for the planet. That is why all of our trips are flightless in destination, fully carbon offset - and we have ambitious plans to be net zero in the very near future.