High Flying Entertainment
Why is there a plane wreck at the entrance to a Nevada brothel?
According to the Atlas Obscura, “In Beatty, Nevada there is only so much to do to keep yourself entertained…one of those things is enjoying the company of a lady of the evening for an hour or two.” Brothels have been legal in 10 of Nevada’s 16 counties since the middle of the 20th century.
You can’t miss the entrance to the former Angel’s Ladies brothel in Beatty. It’s the only one in the state with a plane wreck on the property.
Crash and Burn
Back in 1978, when it was Fran’s Star Ranch, the owners thought it would be a good idea to run a promotion to generate business. They settled on an interesting challenge with a very naughty prize.
If you could parachute (airplane provided) and land on a mattress sitting atop a large painted star on the property, you could spend one full evening with a lady of your choice, on the house!
As you might expect, things went horribly wrong. Scantily clad women combined with an inexperienced, distracted pilot dealing with heavy cross winds sent the plane crashing onto the property. Luckily no one was injured in the accident. The plane wreck stayed as a roadside spectacle to attract visitors.
New Owners
In 1997, Mack Moore, a former funeral home director, was looking for a ranch. He wasn’t looking for a brothel, but Fran’s Star Ranch had a 77-acre garden and mountain spring fed pool that he couldn’t resist.
He bought the ranch and the business. Interestingly, he renamed it Angel’s Ladies after his wife of 25 years, Angel Moore. At age 84 in 2014, he let the license lapse and closed the brothel.
The Shot
On our recent March photo trip, we found ourselves staying in Beatty rather than Death Valley National Park. Terrible rooms in Death Valley were running over $300 a night. Beatty was 60 miles away, but the room costs were substantially cheaper.
It was the middle of the day in Beatty, and we had three hours before we could check into our hotel rooms. Fellow married photographer Mike Loebach and I discussed and agreed that visiting a closed brothel was probably safe.
So, we piled into the car along with Jon Christofersen for the short ride to the entrance. The ranch is private property, but you can get out and walk around the plane and sign without trespassing.
After about an hour in the baking sun, we had our shots and gladly returned to check into our air-conditioned hotel to rehydrate and rest.
I’ll be storm chasing next week, so no Friday Photo until July 8th.
Thanks for looking,
Chuck Derus