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Beatty is a small town a couple hours northwest of Las Vegas. It’s the eastern gateway to Death Valley National Park.
Introduction to Beatty, Nevada
The area that now makes up Beatty was originally inhabited by the Western Shoshone. The town was founded in 1905 and named after Montillus (Montillion) Murray “Old Man” Beatty. He was a Civil War veteran and miner who settled on a ranch in the Oasis Valley in 1896 and was also the town’s first postmaster.
The Las Vegas and Tonopah Railroad (LV&T) arrived in October 1906, followed by the Bullfrog Goldfield Railroad (BG) in April 1907 and the Tonopah and Tidewater (T&T) in October 1907. This cemented Beatty as an important railway center for the Bullfrog Mining District and other nearby mines. The LV&T ceased operations in 1918 followed by the BG in 1928. The T&T was the last to shut down, in 1940.
The town’s economy grew thanks to tourism at Death Valley National Park, the rise of Las Vegas, and the opening of Nellis Air Force Base in 1941. Electricity arrived in 1940 and phone service during World War II. There was also a short mining boom from 1988 to 1990, with the population surging to almost 2,000 during that period. The mine closed in 1998.
As the eastern gateway to Death Valley National Park, Beatty has a few decent accommodation options and makes a good base for exploring the area. There are some Wild West-style buildings and a couple minor attractions in town as well as places to get fuel and supplies. The ghost town of Rhyolite is only 4 miles to the west.
Beatty Museum
The Beatty Museum has a good collection of items related to the history of the town and nearby Rhyolite. If you’re visiting Rhyolite, it might be good to pop into the museum to learn more about the history of mining in the region. Admission is free (as of October 2025) and the museum is open daily from 10am to 3pm.
The museum was founded in May 1995 and was originally situated in a cottage next to the home of one of its founders, Claudia Reidhead. Thanks to rapid growth, on December 31, 1996, it moved into the local water department building. In 2002, the museum purchased its current home, a former Catholic church built in 1955 by Air Force volunteers from the nearby bombing test site. An annex was built next door in 2003, and a gazebo was added in 2008.
Angel’s Ladies Brothel Plane Crash
Three miles northeast of town is an interesting photo op for curious travelers. It involves a plane crash in front of a sign for a former brothel. On May 28, 1977, Fran’s Star Ranch ran a publicity stunt that went terribly wrong. The brothel owners placed a mattress in the center of a large star painted on the desert floor. The first person who could parachute out of a plane and successfully land on the mattress would win a night with a lady of his choice, free of charge.
A combination of strong cross winds, an inexperienced pilot, and half-naked women resulted in the scene you see today. Thankfully, nobody was injured. The owners decided to leave the wreck as-is to attract passers-by.
Fran’s was sold to Mack and Angel Moore in 1997 and renamed Angel’s Ladies. Mack retired and closed the brothel on August 10, 2014, but the plane – weathered and vandalized – remains in place.
