How a Small Texas Town Became Famous for the Most Unofficial Attraction Ever

A small Texas town holds one of the most improbable American legends: a tightly run brothel that fed families during the Depression, helped sheriffs solve crimes, and then ignited a statewide showdown once a TV crusader and a governor took notice

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Teaser And Listener Newsletter

Bob Bales 0:00

Hi, and welcome to The Traveling Fool, the show where we talk about travel destinations, the history and culture around those destinations, along with travel tips and news. I'm your host, Bob Bales, and today we are going to discuss an illegal enterprise in a small Texas town that has become a legend. It involves politicians, lawmen, the media, and ordinary citizens from all walks of life. In the process, it spawned a Broadway musical, a Hollywood movie, and a classic rock song. So stay tuned, and we'll be right back.

Edna’s Early Hardship

Origins Of LaGrange Prostitution

Miss Jessie And The Sheriff Alliance

The Depression And Chicken Ranch Name

Edna Takes Over And Thrives

Rules, Earnings, And Operations

Media Exposé And Political Pressure

Closure After Public Outcry

Pop Culture Legacy And Aftermath

Visiting Modern LaGrange Highlights

Monument Hill And The Bean Lottery

Kreische Brewery And Heritage

Old Jail And Texas Heroes Museum

Faison House And Railroad Depot

Czech Heritage, Casino Hall, Farm Fun

Bob Bales 0:58

Before we get started please hit that like or subscribe button I would really appreciate it. And you can also head over to the website the travelingfool.com and sign up for my monthly newsletter. It goes out normally towards the last day of the month. It's just travel news, contests, and a couple of the latest posts I put on the blog. Okay, now let's get started. Now, our story starts here in 1928, when a girl named Edna was born in Oklahoma. She was the eighth of eleven children. Now times were tough having to live in the Dust Bowl and being part of a large family, having to survive the Great Depression. The family moved around trying to find work, moving frequently between Oklahoma, Texas, and Arizona. Edna wound up quitting school in the third or fourth grade, and at the age of sixteen, she was forced into an unwanted marriage. She wound up having a son who died shortly after birth, and having to endure a very abusive marriage, she wound up leaving her husband. Now Edna found herself alone, homeless, with no money or education. So she did whatever she had to in order to survive. In this case, that meant becoming a prostitute. Working in Fort Worth and then moving on to Houston, Edna heard of an opportunity in a small town not far from Houston, where the girls were treated really well, they made good money, so in 1952 she decided to get a job there. Now, institutionalized prostitution had existed in this small Texas town since eighteen forty four, when a widow named Mrs. Swine brought three young women from New Orleans and settled in a small hotel near the saloon. She became the first madam and began a tradition of interaction and cooperation with the community and local lawmen that lasted almost a hundred and thirty years. She and the women who worked for her carried on a lucrative business using the hotel lobby for entertaining and a room upstairs for the services. That is until the Civil War, when she and one of her faithful prostitutes were run out of town labeled as Yankees and Traitors. Now, after the war, prostitution continued to spread and operate in conjunction with the saloons, and by the end of the nineteenth century, prostitution had moved out of the hotels and into a red light district on the banks of the nearby Colorado River. And it was there that Miss Jessie Williams bought a small house soon after arrival in town, and she continued the custom, set by her predecessors, of good relations with the law and the community, and she ran what was considered a respectable house on the banks of the Colorado River. She hosted politicians, lawmen, but she excluded drunkards. Through her connections, she learned of an impending crusade against the Red Light District and bought two dwellings on eleven acres outside of the city limits, near the road headed to Houston. In 1917, two sisters arrived at the house and were taken in and promoted to middle management positions by Miss Jesse. They were put in charge of public relations and sent packages and letters to local boys fighting in World War I. One of the sisters eventually married an older, wealthy client and moved to San Antonio, where she became a respectable member of society. The other sister stayed in her middle management position until her death. As the war ended and America entered the twenties, automobiles made the establishment accessible to many more customers. New girls came and more rooms were built, and new furniture was added. The rooms were simply added onto the main house in kind of a haphazard fashion as needed, a style that would continue until the closing of the place. Now, Miss Jesse stayed on good terms with Sheriff Locy, who visited every evening to pick up gossip and get information on criminals who had visited the whorehouse and bragged about their exploits. Many crimes in town were solved this way, and while the sheriff kept a tight grip on the criminals, Miss Jesse ruled the house with a firm hand. Nothing exotic was allowed, and none of the bedrooms doors had locks on them. Miss Jesse would walk the halls, and if she heard a customer going or giving one of her girls a hard time, she would chase him out of the room and the house with an iron rod. Now as the Great Depression hit and the economy fell, Miss Jessie was forced to lower her prices. Though initially she still had plenty of clients, as times grew harder, customers were not so plentiful, and the girls grew, well, hungry. Miss Jessie therefore began the poultry standard of charging one chicken for one screw. Soon, chickens were everywhere, and the establishment became known as the Chicken Ranch. Some of you may have heard of it. The girls were never hungry. Miss Jesse supplemented the income by selling surplus chickens and eggs. The economy began to turn around and the civilian conservation corps began construction of Camp Swift, a military camp near the town of LaGrange, and the shortage of men and money declined. The establishment used the same public relations tactics as in the First World War, and as the ranch began an economic recovery from the depression, soon things were prospering. Now, as the war ended due to health, Miss Jessie was confined to a wheelchair, but she still ruled the house with her iron rod. She did so into the nineteen fifties when she was confined to a bed and cared for by her longtime nurse. She spent her last few years with her wealthy sister in San Antonio and died in nineteen sixty one at the age of eighty. So let's get back to Edda. Now Edda Milton arrived at the Chicken Ranch in nineteen fifty two at the age of twenty one. She soon took over for Miss Jesse and proved just as capable and entrepreneurial. When she bought the ranch from Miss Jesse's heirs for thirty thousand dollars, she already had established herself as a competent madam. She had a good relationship with the new sheriff, a fellow named TJ Flornoy, who had been elected in nineteen forty six, and he immediately installed a phone with a direct line to the chicken ranch, not for what you might think, but so he could replace the nightly visits of his predecessor with nightly phone calls. Edna also interacted with the community in the same way Miss Jesse had. She forbade any social contact between the girls and the residents of LaGrange. She made sure that the girls saw the doctor weekly and shopped with local merchants, and that supplies were bought from local stores, and that they rotated their shopping at those stores so that everybody had a chance to get in on the money. Edna also continued Miss Jesse's custom of giving money to local civic causes, and she became one of the town's largest donors. The generosity of her donations points to the success of the ranch. Now during the nineteen fifties, the ranch reached its sixteen girl maximum. On some weekends there was a line at the door made of students, soldiers from the nearby military bases. One base even supplied transportation via helicopter to the ranch. A visit to the Chicken Ranch also became part of freshman initiation at Texas AM, which at the time was an all-male college and a much smaller student population than today. Cursing or drinking was not allowed of the men, or the women for that matter. Now Ada charged a quarter for the jukebox, seventy-five cents for cigarettes, and a dollar for a coke, which was pretty expensive for the times. The women asked for music and cokes to promote business and add to the profits. The going rate for their services was fifteen dollars for fifteen minutes, though more expensive options were added in the sixties. A girl would have from five to twenty customers a day. After giving an estimated 75% to Edna, the girl still made three hundred dollars a week and had no expenses. Edna took care of all the taxes, the insurance, utilities, two meals a day, weekly doctor visits, two attendants, maids, a cook, and all the laundry bills. Now even before the profits from the Coke, cigarettes and jukebox, it's been estimated that the chicken ranch had an income of more than five hundred thousand dollars a year. Now we're talking the fifties and sixties here. All new employees were fingerprinted and photographed by the sheriff before they could start work, and a criminal record of any kind prevented their employment. The sheriff caught a few women but wanted all warrants this way, and once they started working at the ranch, the women had to follow the strict rules of Miss Edna. Now the chicken ranch continued operating successfully until the mid-1970s. Around 1973, that year, consumer affairs reporter Marvin Zindler from a Houston television station ran a week long expose on the ranch. He claimed his motive was inaction on the part of the Texas Department of Public Safety and local law enforcers to combat the organized crime and corruption allegedly evident at the ranch. Now, Marvin Zindler said an anonymous tip led him to the expose, but he would later admit that it was actually the Attorney General John Hill for the state of Texas that called and told him he wanted to close the establishment, but with all the politicians and prominent citizens supporting it, he really couldn't do it, so he wanted Marvin's help. Hill felt that if Sedler ran an expose on the place, with his bringing the story to light, the citizens of Texas would be so outraged that they would force something to be done, and it was. All the attention drawn to the ranch forced the governor, who at the time was a fellow by the name of Dolph Briscoe, to meet with the head of the Department of Public Safety, the State Attorney General, and Marvin Zendler. At that meeting, it was disclosed that DPS had run a two month surveillance on the Chicken Ranch and had failed to find any evidence of connection with organized crime. However, the pressure on the governor was such that he could not ignore the problem. He scheduled a meeting with Sheriff Jim Florinoy and ordered the house closed. The sheriff, along with some of the citizens of LaGrange, saw little reason to close the ranch, but well he thought he had to do it anyway since the governor's pretty much ordered him to. The sheriff informed Edda of the situation, and by Wednesday morning of the week following Sindler's expose, on august first, nineteen seventy three, the ranch was closed, and the women had left. Florinoy left for his meeting with the governor with a petition signed by nearly three thousand people, wanting the chicken ranch to stay open, but upon arriving he was informed that the governor had canceled his meeting when he heard the house was closed. Most of the ranch's employees had headed for Austin or Houston. Only Edna and a few maids were left. Edna attempted to buy a house at the Grange, but her down payment was returned. She subsequently got married and moved to an East Texas town. Now though the chicken ranch was officially closed, the story was not over. Customers showed up for more than two years looking for the place. A musical about the ranch called The Best Little Whore House in Texas was very successful on Broadway. Edda had a silent role in the Broadway production, which was later turned into a movie of the same name starring Dolly Parton as the Madam and Bert Reynolds as the sheriff. Charles Derning played the governor and Dom Delouise was an investigative journalist that brings attention to the matter. Edda would let her tell people she absolutely hated that movie, and she would say about the only accurate thing in the movie was the fact that it was a whorehouse. In nineteen seventy three, the rock group Z Z Top released the song Lagrange with lyrics about the chicken ranch. Now they debuted the song for the very first time at the Fayette County Fair where Lagrange is located. Two lawyers from Houston bought the building and the land and in 1977 moved part of the building in its original condition to Dallas to open a restaurant named the Chicken Ranch. It opened in September of 1977, and Miss Edna was actually the hostess. The building and furniture in their original condition and a menu, mainly of chicken dishes, but the restaurant closed a year later. The building and furniture were auctioned off at the site of the restaurant in late June of that year in a foreclosure sale. Sheriff Florinoy, well, he resigned in nineteen eighty saying he and his wife were sick of hearing about the chicken ranch and did not want to hear that name again. When he died in 1982, his funeral was attended by Lieutenant Governor Bill Hobby and nearly one hundred lawmen. He was credited with solving every murder and bank robbery in Fayette County during his thirty four year term, and the chicken ranch had helped doing helped him do it. Now, later Edda married a fellow by the name of Clayton Chadwell, who brought her to Phoenix, Arizona, where she lived in relative obscurity until her death in 2012 at the age of eighty-four. Today, LaGrange, Texas offers a whole lot of things to do for the visitor. The chicken ranch no longer there, but there is a lot of history and things to see and do in this small Texas town, which sits about halfway between Houston and San Antonio. When I visited, I absolutely had a blast. Now, Fayette County Courthouse sits majestically right in the heart of LaGrange. It's in Fayette, Fayette County. That is the county seat there. Now I've talked in the past about Texas County Courthouses and how a lot of people make it a point to visit them for their historic and architectural significance. Well, the courthouse in LaGrange was built in 1891. It's a three-story Romanesque revival structure with a clock tower. The sandstone structure features ornate detailing, impressive archways, and it has that real distinctive clock tower, and it's watched over the town for more than a century. I went in, toured around the place. They allowed me to go in. There's the new courthouse and the old courthouse, which sits right next to it, which is the old building. And they let me go in there and I mean it's absolutely gorgeous. Now there's also a place called Monument Hill and the Kreische Brewery State Historic Site. Monument Hill, it serves as a final resting place for Texas soldiers who lost their lives during two significant 19th century military expeditions, the Dawson Massacre and the ill-fated Meier Expedition. Now the Dawson Massacre or the Dawson Expedition was an incident in which 36 Texian militiamen, now we're we're going back a ways now. They were killed by Mexican soldiers on September 17, 1842, near the current city of San Antonio, Texas. The event occurred during the Battle of Salado Creek. Although Santa Ana, the ruler of Mexico, signed the Treaty of Velasco, which ceded the Texas territory from Mexican control. The treaty was never ratified by the Mexican government. Santa Ana repudiated the treaty once he was released from Texan custody. So for the Mexicans, the incursion was basically to prove that they could just return to Texas and do whatever they wanted to. On September 11th, 1842, a Mexican force of sixteen hundred men entered San Antonio and took control of the town, with minimal resistance from the Texans. When news of the fallen San Antonio reached Gonzalez, a town in Texas, Matthew Caldwell formed a militia of two hundred and ten men and marched toward San Antonio. On September seventeenth, Caldwell sent a small band of rangers to draw the Mexicans toward the battlefield he had chosen. At least a thousand Mexican soldiers moved out of San Antonio to attack the Texans. Now a separate company of fifty four Texans, mostly from Fayette County, under the command of a fellow named Nicholas Dawson, arrived at the battlefield and began advancing on the rear of the Mexican army. The Mexican commander, a fellow by the name of General Woll, afraid of being surrounded, sent five hundred of his cavalry against the soldiers, along with two cannon. The Texans were able to hold their own against the Mexican muskets, but once the cannons got within the range, their fatalities mounted quickly, and Dawson realized the situation was hopeless and raised a white flag of surrender. However, the battlefield is a hectic place, and during the fog war, both sides continued to fire and Dawson was killed. The battle was over in less than an hour. It ended with thirty-six Texans dead, fifteen captured, and two escaped. At the front, Caldwell's team had repelled the Mexican attacks and inflicted heavy casualties, and General Wool was forced to retreat to San Antonio, then back towards the Rio Grande in Mexico. Now the Meier Expedition was a military operation launched in November of 1842 by the Texas militia against Mexican border settlements. It included a major battle, Ciudad Meier, across the border in South Texas on December the 26th and 27th, 1842, which the Mexicans won. Now the expedition is best known for the black bean episode, which every school kid in Texas learned years ago. I don't know if they still teach it or not. The black bean episode was with the Mexican army selected for execution one in ten prisoners by them having drawing beans out of a pot. That helped determine who would die. The Mexican commander, Huerta, had 159 white beans and 17 black beans, and he placed them in a pot. That became known as the black bean episode or the bean lottery. And Texans were blindfolded and ordered to draw beans. Officers and enlisted men in alphabetical order were ordered to draw. The 17 men who drew black beans were allowed to write letters home before being executed by firing squad. Later, in 1847, during the Mexican American War, U.S. Army occupied northeastern Mexico, and Captain John Dusenberry, who was a white bean survivor from the Meyer expedition, returned to the site of the execution, exhumed the remains of his comrades. He traveled with the remains on a ship to Galveston, then by wagon to LaGrange. Now the citizens of LaGrange retrieved the remains of the men killed in the Dawson Massacre from their burial site near Salado Creek. The remains of both groups of men were reinterred in a ceremony attended by over a thousand people. They were buried in a large common tomb in 1848 in a cement vault on a bluff which was one mile south of La Grange. The gravesite is now part of a state park, the Monument Hill and Christ Brewery State Historic Sites. Which brings us to Kreisch Brewery. It's right there in the general vicinity, like a couple hundred yards away, walk down a trail, and it's there. In 1849, there was a German immigrant by the name of Heinrich Ludwig Kreisch. He purchased 172 acres of land, including the Dawson Meyer tomb, which is now known as Monument Hill State Historic Site. Kreisch was a master stonemason and he built a three-story house for his family. In the 1860s, he utilized the spring water from below his house and started one of the first commercial breweries in Texas. By 1879, the brewery was the third largest in the state. Kreisch's Bluff Beer, as it was named, was a favorite with the locals. The brewery closed in 1884, two years after the death of its owner. The brewery had struggled due to the rise of large-scale brewing companies and commercial refrigeration and railroads, and Chrysler's death was just a final blow to the business. But today, you can enjoy a self-guided tour of the brewery ruins. Access to the Kreisch family home, which is a well-preserved example of German architecture, and all kinds of interpretive displays explaining the brewing techniques of the era. The combined site offers hiking trails that connect these historical features through beautiful natural surroundings. Makes it perfect for history buffs and outdoor enthusiasts alike. And you know, I've told you before, my knees are shot, I have bad knees, and I had no problem walking around out there. It's a great site to visit, and it's just about a mile out of the main city. Now they have the old Fayette County Jail there also, which was constructed in eighteen eighty three, and it stands as an imposing reminder. Frontier Justice. The Victorian Gothic stone building had operated as a county jail up until 1985, making it one of Texas' longest serving detention facilities. But today you can tour the jail cells, the sheriff's quarters, and the gallows area while learning about Texas law enforcement in the early years. The Texas Heroes Museum is located inside the jail, and it's a tribute to men and women who sacrificed to create the great state of Texas. It's also the home of the Bob Laine Memorial Library. Bob was a Texas hero who lost both legs in Vietnam. His collection of over 800 books on military history are the nucleus of the library. And the Texas Hero Museum honors Texans from Moses Austin and the old 300 to modern day heroes. It's just great. I mean, it's right there in the middle of town. You can't miss it. It's a great place to visit. In town also, there's a place called the Faison House. Just a short walk away from the jail is the Faison House. It offers a different perspective on LaGrange's past. Built in 1881, the Victorian home belonged to Thomas Faison, a prominent local businessman. And it exemplifies the prosperity that came to LaGrange during the late 19th century with its ornate woodwork, period furnishings, and manicure gardens. Currently, it's operated as a museum by the LaGrange Heritage Association, and the Faison House presents a vivid picture of upper middle class life in Victorian era, Texas. Seasonal tours allow the visitors to experience the lifestyle of LaGrange's founding families, complete with original artifacts and furnishings. There's also an old railroad in town, railroad depot in town. I love old railroad depots and I love visiting these places. MKT Railroad Depot and Museum is located in LaGrange. It was built in 1898. It has been a museum since 1999 and that houses artifacts and collections from the time it was part of the Missouri, Kansas, Texas Railroad. And there's also a couple of old cabooses that are located at the depot. While you're there, you might want to visit the Texas Czech Heritage and Cultural Center. Texas had a lot of Czech immigrants, Czechs and Germans. They just migrated to Texas like crazy in the 1817, 1800s. And the Texas Charity Heritage and Cultural Center is located at the fairgrounds. It tells a story of early immigrants arriving into the area. There's a museum, a huge collection of items. The Czech Village is located there with several historic buildings, like the Czech Newspaper Museum, the Music Museum, the General Store, and much more. It's a great place to spend some time and learn about early Texas history and Czech immigrants. You might want to stop by the historic casino hall and local art galleries there. Now, Fayette County Courthouse, right near it, you can visit what's called the Historic Casino Hall. Despite its name, there was never a casino there. There was never any gambling there. But it came as a community gathering place, and it was built in 1881. And after extensive restoration, that historic building now serves as a cultural hub hosting art exhibitions, concerts, and all kinds of community events. You might want to check it out. They could have something going on while you're visiting, and it's just a beautiful old building. Now the Jersey Barnyard Experience stands out as a genuine family-owned dairy farm where visitors connect with agriculture through hands-on experiences. This is great if you got kids. It's a working farm and it welcomes families without reservations and offers both guided and self-guided tour options throughout the week. A guided tour costs like $14, $15 for adults, $10 for children. And on those guided tours you can feed and pet the barnyard animals, including goats, chickens, ducks, and rabbits. You can bottle feed Jersey calves, take a tractor drawn hayride to see the dairy operations, and even try your hand at milking a cow. But it's a great place to visit, especially if you got youngins and just want them to have a lot of fun on the farm for a little while. And of course, we we were talking about the Czech background, you've gotta stop at Weekles Bakery. It is a must-visit destination for authentic Czech pastries. Their award-winning kolachis have earned well deserved fame throughout the region. And I don't want to hear anything about that. It's not a kolachi. Yes, it is. We're in Texas. We call them kolachis. I know typically kolachi is a pastry with its fruit filling, and they have those. Texas also calls the pig in a blanket kalachi. And all these bakeries around here make them and they're highly popular, but you gotta stop at Weekles Bakery while you're there in town and grab you up some goodies. You might also want to try Rohan Meadery. If you've never had mead, it is unique. It's just outside of town. The meadery introduces visitors to the ancient art of honey wine production. It's a family-owned establishment and it earned excellent reviews, like almost five stars for both its products and its atmosphere. And if you go there, you can participate in educational tastings where staff members will share fascinating stories about the farm and its unique beverages. Beyond Mead, they also offer craft ciders and they even have pizza and just they create an ideal little place to relax and after you've been exploring town. The meadery operates as part of Blissful Folly Farm, where sustainable methods produce these artisanal beverages. If you've never had mead, you ought to try it at least once. I went to a meadery when I was in Tennessee and it it's it's a unique experience. Bugle Boy, that's a place you might want to stop by. It is an 80-seat, cozy little venue where everyone is there for one reason only to listen and enjoy great music. Bugle Boy is housed within a World War II Army barracks. Now, this venue features a dedicated listening room. No talking is permitted. That allows performers to command complete audience attention. It's been operating for over 20 years, and the Bugle Boy hosts approximately 90 performances annually, usually Friday through Sunday. LeGrange is just a great little town. It's got several shops scattered throughout town, and they offer everything from vintage furniture to collectibles, making it an ideal town for treasure hunters seeking one-of-a-kind pieces. It's not too far from Round Rock, where and not Round Rock, Roundtop, Texas, where Roundtop is famous in Texas for their flea market. I mean, it's massive, but people from all over attend that place. It's not too far from Roundtop. Crucial Park, it provides a little peaceful retreat, well-maintained walking trails, picnic areas and playgrounds. It's just right on the outskirts of town. The Colorado River adds another whole dimension to Le Grange's outdoor recreation center or recreation scene. At Plum Park, which is located on a scenic stretch of the river, you can find forty acres of sandy beaches, perfect for launching canoes and kayaks. And the park offers picnic tables, grills, and campsites for those wishing to attend or extend their stay. LaGrange is just a great town for visiting the outdoors. They also have a lot of great places to eat. I mean, you can find those little country cafes that people bypass all the time, but they've been there forty, fifty years for a reason. I tell you, I had a great time. It's not that far from where I live, like two, a couple hour drive. But it's halfway between Houston and San Antonio, just off of not too far off of Interstate 10. If you go, you might want to make it the weekend. You know, spend some time outdoors, visit all the local areas, learn all about the history there. It's just a really, really cool place with a really unique history. And what started out as a place where a house of ill repute, where everybody knew it, and it was open secret, I guess you could say. Nobody did anything about it, but everybody's known about that place in Texas for years. Well, that's not there anymore, but there's still good reason to go visit the town. Well, that's it for this week. I hope you enjoyed the podcast. Do me a favor, hit that like or subscribe button, and we'll be back next week with another episode of the Traveling Fool. So until then, safe travel.