Mustang Ranch Brothel, Nevada
The famous Mustang Ranch brothel outside Reno is back in business, though at a new location. In 2002 developer Lance Gilman opened a brothel at the western end of what would become the Tahoe Reno Industrial Center. He also purchased the Mustang Ranch, located a few miles away. The Mustang Ranch was famous as the first legal brothel to operate in the country, in 1971, at that time owned by the notorious Joe Conforte. Pursued by the IRS, Conforte eventually fled the country, and the Ranch went into receivership, and was eventually taken over by the federal government. Gilman bought it when it was being auctioned off on eBay by the Bureau of Land Management, which by then owned the land it was on, and wanted the buildings removed. In 2004, Gilman had the buildings flown to his land by helicopter, and installed next to his existing brothel, then renamed the whole complex the World Famous Mustang Ranch.