Pahrump Report

[Arab Nights (imported)]

So we had the opportunity to overnight in Pahrump, NV the other night. More accurate would be to say we were forced to. The motel in the little desert town we were going to was booked and Pahrump was the next closest by a lot.

It is easy to take cheap shots at the town. Like the old sunbeaten billboard as you come in announcing Chateau homes on the left. It is unclear if the Chateau refers to the mobile homes or the or the very middle class stucco homes like where I would live.

Pahrump kind of began in the 1960s by desert dwellers who did not need phone, water, sewage, TV or paved roads, It has slowly grown to about 45,000 now and has all of the above. It does have a nice golf course. The Best Western at night is eye catching with palm trees festooned with lights and we had a really good meal at the onsite Indian restaurant with a real Hindu owner constantly circulating to be sure everything was functioning smoothly.

Pahrump has clearly grown to attract a different type of person, but you still see plenty of signs of earlier Pahrump.

The Pahrump Valley Times had a front-page story about ‘The LOVE at the Ranch has faded.’ Prostitution in Nevada is legal by county option. It is legal in all Nevada counties (ie never made illegal) except Clark (Vegas), Washoe (Reno) and a Mormon stronghold in eastern Nevada, Pahrump is in Nye County about as close to Vegas as you can get, so has always had whore houses. The Love Ranch (famous for Lamar Odom passing out there) was one of seven once owned by Dennis Hof. Hof was one of the characters who was an author, reality TV star and Republican politician who billed himself as the Trump of Pahrump.

The Ranch was closed in 2018 for various infractions and non-payments weeks before he died on site – only to go on and win the election after his death. It has since been bought by a company whose officers include a lady who is dedicated to fighting sexual violence and trafficking, so it is unlikely to re-open as a bordello.

The times are changing in Pahrump.

[Valery_V (imported)]

In popular culture:

- In the film Mars Attacks!, Martians land in Pahrump and announce they have "come in peace", but soon kill most of the humans gathered there.

- Pahrump was featured in Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip in a two-part episode titled "Nevada Day". Part One aired November 6, 2006, and Part Two aired a week later on November 13. The scenes, however, were set only in the town jail and a small diner across the street, and the town itself was not featured, implying that Pahrump is much smaller than it actually is.

- The TV series Get Shorty is partly set in Pahrump. The city is the home town of main character Miles Daly, played by Chris O'Dowd.

- The TV series Small Town News: KPVM Pahrump is about the only TV station in Pahrump.

- Pahrump was featured in seasons 2, 3, and 4 of the TV series Live PD produced by A&E (TV network).

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pahrump,_Nevada

[WheelyCurious]

I don't know if it was one of the Pahrump Houses of Swell Repute, but I remember a story years ago about a Nevada house that got seized by the government for some reason (I think taxes) which then LOST money attempting to keep it operating... Moral of story was that even sex wouldn't pay if the government ran it...

I also remember the overly frequently distributed FAQ on the Nevada whorehouses back in the Usenet days - It always struck me that the description they gave of the government specified rules about the way the workers had to live were pretty miserable for them. In addition the rules for how a transaction was to be performed seemed more like a medical procedure than anything erotic.... I never had any interest in patronizing a hooker, but my reaction to that FAQ was to make me even LESS interested....

WheelyCurious

[ToTheQuick (imported)]

TMI, but I lost my virginity at a Pahrump brothel, The Chicken Ranch. Very nice place, they picked me up at the Airport and dropped me off at my hotel in Vegas, and even gave me dinner to go, gratis.

[Arab Nights (imported)]

That was Joe Comforte and Mustang Ranch you are thinking about, Wheely. I heard he had it on the county line so when he got advanced warning one county was going to raid, he would have it moved over the line. A mobile house, if you will. It was local politics at its best - meant to amuse you.