Chaparral, Nevada

A hearty welcome from Chaparral Mayor, Kitty Storm, and Town Council President, Peter Wirth.

Chaparral, Nevada.

Welcome to the home page of the friendly town of Chaparral, Nevada. Chaparral has a colorful history -- and our visitors just can't seem to get enough!

Chaparral: We May Surprise You

Local legend has it that in the 1840's, a lost wagon train broke down here amongst the sage and buttes. Hungry and confused, the pioneers had to eat the members of their party who had died. But those that survived fell in love with their new surroundings, and chose this place to build and grow. All that's left of this first group are some of their old tracks at Wagon Rut State Park.

Pigeon Ranch.
When it was first built for automobile tourists during the 1920s, local landmark The Pigeon Ranch had nothing to do with legalized prostitution.
Today, we in Chaparral share our forefathers' spunk and devotion to the region. Here's some of what we have to offer.

Legalized Prostitution: If you come to Chaparral for legalized prostitution, you can rest assured that you will not be stared at, or made the recipient of "bawdy house" jokes. The business of pleasure is serious business in Chaparral, and we understand that there is a big difference between some nudist colony volleyball game and an evening (or whenever the mood strikes you) with a top-notch whore. Experienced johns have selected Chaparral for decades because of our clean facilities and dedicated personnel. Legal Prostitution is Chaparral's main business. We were first to develop an advanced computerized reservation system for use by those who live in Nevada or outside the United States. True, our business has been challenged by the Army's closing of Fort Marion Nuclear Testing Facility. But that doesn't mean a dip in our brand of service.

The First Annual High Desert Film Festival:
Coming This Summer

When their big Army base closes, some towns would just quit--pick up stakes and move on. But not us! Like the scrappy desert bush that is our namesake, we persevere in the tough times to prosper in the good. So we've declared our own peace dividend--made lemonade from the lemons life just gave us -- and have started a film festival. Local Jaycee Prexy, Dwayne Robbins, has put all the pieces together to insure that the High Desert Film Festival will be a sensation for years to come.

Our own Dwayne Robbins(left), one of Chaparral's "Ten Under 30," meets with famed Film Festival programmer, BaRuce Diamond, in Hollywood, California..

We have all pitched in to raise the necessary seed capital for the event. Many of our girls have auctioned off their unmentionables over the internet to defray the costs of our posters and the oversized plastic cactii decorations.

Students at the two area Junior High Schools raised enough money selling liquor miniatures door-to-door that we could hire top festival consultant BaRuce Diamond to help us program the festival.

BaRuce lives in Hollywood, where many of today's hottest movie actors live. BaRuce who originally hails from England, has an intimate knowledge of film study, and will make sure that only the best is presented at our festival. He has already helped the Quad Cities and Durham Film Festivals become top notch.

The honored guest will be kept secret until our Festival opens, but judging by the sly look on Dwayne's face, its gonna be someone great!

Tickets are still available. .

The most famous whorehouse in Chaparral is the celebrated Pigeon Ranch. Originally built next to the town's only cold water well for America's first wave of automobilie tourists in the 1920s, it first opened for prostitution during the Depression. Since that time, it has grown in size and stature to where "The Ranch" is known the world over, and "Ranch Dressing" is served in restaurants everywhere.

The current owner of the Pigeon Ranch, Kitty Storm, is also our two-term mayor. Her dedication has kept the town going during this tough period after the base closing. Seen by many as a rising political star, she is constantly invited to national political functions.

The Pigeon Ranch was only the first den of legal iniquity in town, and others quickly followed -- today's popular spots like Luna Y Sol, Punta Boca, and The Sweat Lodge were all going strong before World War II.

Project Echo Tango One-O A month after V-J Day, on September 18, 1945, President Harry Truman officially approved the comissioning of an "advanced weapons facility, including extant and planned atomic devices" on the great tract of rocky fallow surrounding Chaparral. This became Fort Marion Nuclear Testing Facility, and, with the invention of the H-Bomb in 1948, was soon to host more than 5,000 men. Fort Marion became the top above-ground testing range of choice for thermonuclear devices and during the escalating cold war, we literally became a boomtown. At this time, the town slogan committee was first convened and came up with the phrase still fondly remembered by those stationed here:

"For a private's privates or a general's particulars, there's Chaparral."

Smiling Stump: Local stump artist Mark Kuba has had his work featured in many magazines and in the national book, Roadside America.

Over the next twenty years, Chaparral County was ground zero for...America's ground zeros, and the Army's influence was felt by everyone. More that 1,200 small- to medium-yield nuclear weapons were detonated in the fertile testing grounds to our west. They built a movie theater and railroad lines to town. New roads were built, old ones paved. The red light district got its first traffic light. True, the weekly newspaper had to pass censors, but if you read through the old issues today, no one seemed to be complaining about it.

The good times lasted well into the sixties, but underground testing and test ban treaties, the end of the Viet Nam conflict and, finally, the fall of communism all took their toll. Base personnel fell to under 2,000.

Town of Motels: Motel rooms, once in short supply around these parts, are now plentiful thanks to generous tax breaks created by the Mayor's Office. If you are a motor lodging professional with a desire to start a new life, we welcome your inquiries. As we say here in Chaparral, "We'll leave the red light on for you."

When Fort Marion was finally closed in 1998, skeptics predicted dire consequences. But like the rugged hermits who live in our caves to the south, Chaparral refused to wither and die. We are using the tough times to reinvent ourselves. The slogan committee worked overtime, and today "We May Surprise You." So whether its for a seat at the country's newest film festival, or a night with a favorite whore, you can do worse than Chaparral, Nevada, U.S.A.

Scenic vista.
View of the testing range from atop
The Main Street Silo.

Natural Beauty of Terrain.
Outdoor enthusiasts also have plenty to explore in the area around Chaparral that is non-restricted by the military. Scorpions and taratulas, shy creatures in most environs, can be seen in large numbers by those taking the Chaparral mule trip. Guides can be found in town. Maps are also provided for those who like to "do it themselves." And for children, the bleak and plantless terrain means something more. Some of the old barracks have been turned into the home base for Asteroid Camp. For two weeks a year, kids find out what life might be like on an asteroid. Hot in the daytime, freezing at night -- scientists are now saying the same thing about 'Roids!
Tripod Error [an error occurred while processing this directive]

404 - Page Not Found

Sorry, but the page or the file that you're looking for is not here.

Sponsors