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The Fort Langley Hotel (originally known as just the Langley Hotel) was built by first owner James Taylor in the late 1860s, early 1870s, and appeared to incorporate part of a saloon built by Henry West, the builder of the steam mill. There were three "long term" hotel keepers: James Taylor, from when he built it until about 1889, Peter Stanley Brown, who ran it from 1891-1914, and Warren W. (Spud, or Jack) Webster, who ran it from 1914 - abt. 1938. Alexander Praisley was proprietor of the hotel in the late 1950s and 1960s. After many years and several renovations, the hotel was the oldest in B.C. by the 1970s. On December 29, 1974, the owners burned the hotel to the ground to collect the insurance money. The site is now the home of the Riverside Centre (2007).
See Also: Brown's Hotel, hotels

In the late 1960s, Vic Rockson owned the oldest hotel in British Columbia, the Fort Langley Hotel. By 1970 he had "refurbished the interior in tone with hostelry accommodation and fittings of an era nearly 100 years ago when the hotel was constructed." Despite his changes, Rockson sold the hotel to Ross Elliot in June 1971, who had plans to renovate and expand. Rockson was the chairman of the Fort Langley Board of Trade for a time. He was married and had children, and passed away not long ago (2005).