chicken ranch

Two brothels in the United States are or have been known as Chicken Ranch: one in Texas and another one in Nevada.

Texas

Located in Fayette County, just outside the city limits of La Grange, the Chicken Ranch operated as an illegal but tolerated brothel from 1905 until 1973. It was established by Miss Jessie Williams. The name of the brothel derives from the fact that during the Great Depression, chickens were accepted as payment for sexual services. In the early 1950s, Edna Milton began managing the house, eventually buying it after Miss Jessie had died in 1961. The prostitutes working at the Chicken Ranch underwent a criminal background check by the sheriff and weekly health checks by a doctor. They were not allowed to have outside social contacts with townspeople. The brothel bought supplies from local vendors on a rotating basis and was generally well-liked. In 1973, Houston TV reporter Marvin Zindler forced the closure of the ranch after running a week-long special on it. The sheriff of Fayette County, Jim Flournoy, armed with a petition opposing the closure and carrying 3,000 signatures, tried to meet the governor and revert the closure, but he was rebuffed. The Texas Chicken Ranch is the basis for the 1978 Broadway musical and later movie The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, as well as the ZZ Top song La Grange.

Nevada

Walter Plankinton opened the Nevada Chicken Ranch in 1976 near Pahrump, Nye County, about 60 miles west of Las Vegas, as close to the big city as legally possible. He encountered severe opposition from local law enforcement and other brothel owners:

The initial location of the Chicken Ranch was inside the city limits of Pahrump, where prostitution was illegal. Plankinton was arrested and had to move the brothel to a new location. After lengthy appeals he had to serve 60 days in jail in 1981.
Nye County did not require brothels to be licensed in 1976, and three other brothels operated legally in the county at the time. Nevertheless, officials circulated a petition opposing the Chicken Ranch and then tried to close it down as a "public nuisance per se". The resulting court case reached the Nevada Supreme Court, which ruled in Plankinton's favor in 1978 (Nye County v. Plankinton, 94 Nev. 739, 587 P.2d 421 (1978)).
In 1978, the Chicken Ranch was burned to the ground by arsonists who had been hired by Bill Martin, owner of the Shamrock brothel in Lathrop Wells. The twelve prostitutes and two employees barely survived. Plankinton reopened with a new set of trailers 5 days later.

In 1982, Plankinton sold the Chicken Ranch for $1,000,000 to Kenneth Greene, a San Francisco business man. Greene hired Russel Reade, a friend and ex-teacher, as manager. Some progressive rules were established; for instance, the brothel counsels the working women about retirement savings and health insurance. In 1983, Nevada Chicken Ranch was the subject of a documentary by filmmaker Nick Broomfield. The Chicken Ranch has a reputation for being pricey; prices start at $100 but the average amount for one hour of intercourse and oral sex is about $400. The house receives 50% of that money. As of 2003, the Chicken Ranch remains in business. It was recently featured on the Comedy Central show "Wanda Does It".

Chicken Ranch

Texas

Nevada

See also

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Further reading