Built in 1888 by the Gilroy family near Lancaster’s 1876 Southern Pacific rail stop, the Western Hotel is the city’s oldest surviving building and a link to its railroad-era beginnings. After George T. Webber bought it in 1902, its dining room became a gathering place for community and business life, including the founding of the Lancaster Chamber of Commerce. It also housed workers during construction of the Los Angeles-Owens River Aqueduct from 1905 to 1913. Damaged by fire in 1972 and threatened with demolition, it was saved through a local preservation campaign that included Park View Intermediate School students and was remodeled as a museum in 1992.