Chicken Ranch (Texas) - Edna Milton

Edna Milton

Williams began suffering from acute arthritis in the 1950s, and in 1952 turned over the running of the ranch to a young prostitute named Edna Milton. After Williams died in 1961, Milton purchased the property, which she officially renamed Edna's Fashionable Ranch Boarding House. Milton maintained many of Williams's rules for the girls. They were prohibited from drinking or getting tattoos, and were not allowed to visit the bars or cafes in town. Before beginning their employment, the prostitutes were fingerprinted and photographed by Flournoy and underwent a background check. After beginning work, they were required to see the doctor in town weekly for a checkup. To encourage support from the townspeople, supplies were bought from local stores on a rotating basis. Milton also contributed to local civic causes, becoming one of La Grange's largest philanthropists.

The Chicken Ranch was highly successful. In the 1950s the Ranch employed sixteen prostitutes. On weekends there was often a line of men, mostly students or soldiers from nearby military bases, at the door. One base supplied a helicopter for soldiers to use for transportation to the ranch. Students at Texas A&M University also made an unofficial tradition of sending freshmen to the Chicken Ranch for inititation. The Chicken Ranch was preferred because many of the girls were allegedly University of Texas coeds.

Each prostitute would have between five and twenty customers per day. In the 1950s, they were charged $15 for fifteen minutes ($130 in today's terms). The employees were required to give 75% of their earnings to Milton, who paid for all of their living and medical expenses. At its peak in the 1960s, the ranch earned more than $500,000 per year ($3.69 million in today's terms), with the prostitutes keeping an additional $300 per week for themselves ($2,200 in today's terms).

Edna Milton Chadwell died in Phoenix, Arizona at the age of 82, on February 25, 2012.