Historic Newspaper Archives

May 19, 1998 featured image

Headed for a Showdown

Pioneertown residents can't agree whether to cling to their backwater identity or court the entertainment industry, which built and then forgot the high desert town.
Aug. 8, 1999 featured image

Call it a Draw

It's not the wild, wild west, but it sure feels like it - from the dusty dirt roads to the boarded-up saloon, the bath-house and the livery. Without the cars and the little old lady zipping down Mane Street on a three-wheeled motorized cart, a poodle on a platform at her feet, you'd think you just stepped back in time.
Wildfire damages western site featured image

Wildfire damages site of Hollywood Westerns

Winds up to 20 mph fanned the fire across 6,000 acres, said Doug Lannon, a battalion chief for the California Department of Forestry. The fire originally had started as part of a series of lightning-sparked blazes. It was brought under control but erupted again.
firefighting helicopter image

Wildfire rages in desert

Historic buildings in the Old West movie set area of Pioneertown had been spared, but several other structures were destroyed, fire officials said Wednesday.
July 13, 2006 featured image

Calif. Wildfire Spares Area Used To Film Westerns

Desert winds and blistering heat on Wednesday challenged firefighters battling a 36,000-acre wildfire that destroyed buildings and forced hundreds of people to leave but spared historic structures in a town developed decades ago as a movie set for westerns.